Carlos Checa (Ducati) wanted only to forget his two DNF’s he had last year at the Miller Motorsports Park by winning both events today, taking his fifth and sixth victory this season.

In the first race in Salt Lake City, pole sitter Checa lost ground at the start and wind up fourth during the opening laps, but the Spaniard was patient and he fought his way back to the front and retook the lead from Troy Corser (BMW).

Once in the front, the Ducati rider never looked back and led an all Ducati 1-2-3 after an excellent performance from WSBK rookies Jakub Smrz and Sylvain Guintoli, who ended up also on the podium.

Unfortunately for series’ frontrunners Max Biaggi (Aprilia) and Jonathan Rea (Honda) the race ended quite rapidly, as the two tangled and were out of commission before the opening lap had been completed; ending certainly Biaggi’s title hopes.

Leon Camier (Aprilia) and Eugene Laverty (Yamaha) had a good run but also benefited from the Biaggi-Rea incident and completed the top 5.

In the second event of the American doubleheader, Checa kept the lead right at the exit of the first corner and quickly managed to create a gap between himself and his pursuers, especially Camier, who after starting from 11th quicly gained ground and ended up second by Turn 1.

Better starts for the Yamaha riders saw Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri finish lap one in third and fourth, with Aprilia duo Noriyuki Haga and Max Biaggi in fifth and sixth.

The Italian began to make his way up front, passing both Haga and Melandri for fourth before pulling the same pass on Laverty for third on lap six.

Biaggi promptly gave chase to his team-mate Camier but wasn't able to bring the gap down to anything less than 1.5 sec.

Wins five and six also help Checa establish a sizeable margin over Melandri and Biaggi in the overall standings, the Spaniard now 61 points adrift after just ten races.

WSBK Salt Lake City Race No.1 – Results
Pos. Rider Team/Bike Time/Gap
1. Carlos Checa Althea Ducati 1098R 38mins 46.915secs
2. Jakub Smrz Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +2.766s
3. Sylvain Guintoli Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +4.093s
4. Leon Camier Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +8.885s
5. Eugene Laverty Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 +15.718s
6. Tom Sykes Kawasaki RTS ZX-10R +20.477s
7. Ayrton Badovini BMW Italia S1000RR +22.170s
8. Leon Haslam BMW Motorrad S1000RR +22.267s
9. Noriyuki Haga PATA Aprilia RSV-4 +24.087s
10. Marco Melandri Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 +27.150s
11. Maxime Berger Supersonic Ducati 1098R +29.422s
12. Etc….

WSBK Salt Lake City Race No. 2 – Results
Pos. Rider Team/Bike Time/Gap
1. Carlos Checa Althea Ducati 1098R 38mins 22.202secs
2. Leon Camier Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +7.194s
3. Max Biaggi Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +8.734s
4. Eugene Laverty Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 +14.214s
5. Michel Fabrizio Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000 +14.750s
6. Marco Melandri Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 +21.634s
7. Sylvain Guintoli Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +24.079s
8. Jakub Smrz Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +25.688s
9. Ayrton Badovini BMW Italia S1000RR +29.621s
10. Tom Sykes Kawasaki RTS ZX-10R +30.681s
11. Jonathan Rea Castrol Honda CBR1000RR +31.033s
12. Etc….