2011 World Superbike Champion Carlos Checa

Carlos Checa has won the 2011 World Superbike Championship and secured Ducati its 17th manufacturer title.

The Althea Ducati rider secured the title with a win in Race One of the Oct. 2 Magny-Cours round in France, and then captured the manufacturer title with another win in Race Two.

Checa now has 467 points on the season with an unsurpassible 107-point lead over Yamaha factory rider Marco Melandri who finished second in both races at Magny-Cours to secure the runner-up spot in the 2011 championship.

With the season-ending Portimao round in Portugal still to run, Checa has 14 wins on the season including five doubles. Checa also has six third-place finishes and was held off the podium in just four races all season.

For Ducati, the manufacturer title comes despite the end of the Italian brand’s factory program in 2010. The Althea team competed this season with some former Ducati factory engineers

[Source: WSBK, Althea Ducati]

By Dennis Chung