The Althea Racing team heads to the historic Autodromo Enzo & Dino Ferrari in Imola for this weekend’s eleventh round of the World Superbike Championship, and the eighth round of the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup.
Three weeks ago at the Nurburgring in Germany, Carlos triumphed in race 1 before battling to stay upright in the heavy rain of race 2. He arrives at Ducati’s home track with a 74 point lead over Melandri in second and a 96 point lead over Biaggi, third.
On his last trip to Imola late last season, Checa scored a fantastic double win on board the 1198, his only double of the 2010 season. Expectations are high as he returns this weekend.
Carlos Checa will share the garage with a team-mate this weekend, as Federico Sandi, riding with team Althea in the Italian national SBK championship this season, takes up the chance to wildcard at Imola.
Over in the STK 1000 category, Althea Racing’s Davide Giugliano will fight to extend his 23 point championship lead, while his team-mate Ravenna-born Lorenzo Baroni will be looking to put in the performance of his season at his “home” track.
Carlos Checa
“This is a track that we know well and where we’ve had some good results, especially last year of course. We will need to see how the tyres behave on the new track surface that is the only unknown but I’m feeling very prepared for the weekend. We are looking to the championship of course but at the same time it’s important to concentrate on each individual race, doing our best and always giving 100%. We’re feeling confident.”
Federico Sandi
“I’m really happy to have the chance to ride at Imola this weekend and want to thank Genesio Bevilacqua for this opportunity. I hope to get on with the Pirelli tyres as I’ve never used them with this bike (we race with Michelin in the Italian championship). I will do my best to make two solid races and would like to close both within the points zone if at all possible. I have some experience at this track and I like the layout as it’s a fairly complicated circuit. I can’t wait to get out there and race!”
