Leon Haslam (Suzuki) won his first World Superbike Championship race of his career, but was denied a double victory by Carlos Checa (Ducati) in the last moment of the second race during the first weekend of WSBK action at Phillip Island in Australia.

Although the pole man led from start to finish, Haslam almost lost the race following Michel Fabrizio’s (Ducati) late charge when he got a better run out of the final bend to pull alongside down the start-finish straight.

While Fabrizio was initially declared the winner, the resulting photo finish tipped the result back in Haslam's favour. It was his first victory in 61 World Superbike attempts, the win also marks Suzuki's first since Max Neukirchner triumphed at Misano in 2008.

Just behind, Noriyuki Haga (Ducati), who had to get his bike rebuilt after a collision with Ruben Xaus, climb his way up to third place from tenth on the grid.

Fabrizio began to attack – a last ditch attempt to tuck beneath the Suzuki through the long final bend and slipstream past down the straight. But the Ducati rider who got the better slingshot out of the corner as he pulled alongside his rival down the long home straight.

Although the timesheets initially had Fabrizio classified, a quick decision on the photo-finish would see the result reversed just a few seconds later.

In the second race, the scenario would be quite different as a stunning move for the lead on the penultimate corner of the race saw Carlos Checa take a shock maiden victory for the privateer Althea Racing.

Checa stalked his way back into contention after a poor start to deny Leon Haslam a double victory for Suzuki.

A remarkable performance by the Spaniard, who was only eighth after the opening lap, the result marks his third career World Superbike win, but perhaps more significantly, the first triumph for the Althea Racing team on its debut with Ducati machinery.

Haslam had looked on course for a second win of the day after moving ahead during the latter stages, the Briton seemingly pulling a decisive move on team-mate Sylvain Guintoli after the Frenchman had snatched the lead on lap six.

Once again, Michel Fabrizio was able to get on the podium for the second time in a row, although this time it was on the third step.

Nonetheless, despite the disappointment of losing out to Checa, Haslam still takes an early lead in the standings with a weekend points haul of 45 points.


WSBK Results Phillip Island Race-1 Round 1 of 13
Pos. Rider Team/Bike Gap
1. Leon Haslam Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 34mins 13.435s 22 laps
2. Michel Fabrizio Ducati Xerox 1198 +0.004s
3. Noriyuki Haga Ducati Xerox 1198 +0.769s
4. Jonathan Rea Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +10.201s
5. Max Biaggi Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +10.782s
6. Sylvain Guintoli Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 +11.079s
7. Carlos Checa Althea Ducati 1198 +11.208s

WSBK Results Phillip Island Race-2 Round 1 of 13
Pos. Rider Team/Bike Gap
1. Carlos Checa Althea Ducati 1198 34mins 16.428secs 22 laps
2. Leon Haslam Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 +0.307s
3. Michel Fabrizio Ducati Xerox 1198 +0.434s
4. Sylvain Guintoli Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 +0.837s
5. Noriyuki Haga Ducati Xerox 1198 +3.453s
6. Jonathan Rea Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +11.530s
7. Troy Corser BMW Motorrad S1000RR +12.068s

WSBK Standings – After 1 of 13 rounds
Pos. Rider Team Points
1. Leon Haslam Suzuki Alstare 45 points
2. Michel Fabrizio Ducati Xerox 36
3. Carlos Checa Althea Ducati 34
4. Noriyuki Haga Ducati Xerox 27
5. Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki Alstare 23
6. Jonathan Rea Ten Kate Honda 23
7. Max Biaggi Aprilia Alitalia19