Superbike – Race 1 Donington – Melandri comeback winner, Smrz 2nd Checa 3rd

Everything is ready on the Donington Park track for the second round of the season in the production-derived world championship. The temperatures on the English track still remain very low, but there are many reasons for interest in Race 1. One above all: will Biaggi and Melandri give vent to their rivalry on the track too?

At the start of Race 1, Leon Haslam commands the leading group, with Noriyuki Haga who gets off to a great start and is second, while Checa follows in third. The Spaniard, however, lost several positions in the first lap, while Camier was second. Meanwhile the fight between Biaggi and Melandri heats up, with the two trying to advance each other. There in the lead, the Englishman Camier begins to appear behind his compatriot Haslam, but it is Haga who records the fastest lap of the race. The Japanese, in fact, is approaching the leading duo to start the fight for first place.

On the fourth lap, a bad fall for Eugene Laverty who remains on the ground in pain. Meanwhile, Melandri and Biaggi lapped quite fast and continued their duel on the track. In the top positions, Haga overtakes Camier, but in the battle between the two Smrz prevails and moves into second position, while Sykes takes advantage and overtakes the Japanese. And it's still Smrz who passes Haslam on lap six and takes the lead of the race. “Curious” fall for Berger who loses the front wheel of his Ducati and ends up on the ground.

On the eighth lap, a mistake by Max Biaggi who goes wide and loses several positions, while Checa is also only ninth in an attempt to catch up with the leading group. Melandri continues his progression and Haga also passes, putting himself behind Sykes. Up front Smrz tries to make a gap behind his Ducati, while Biaggi is chased by Rea and Checa.

While Smrz is the leader with a two-second lead, the battle for the second step of the podium heats up between Haslam, Camier, Melandri and Sykes. But it's not the only challenge of the race: Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa, in fact, stage a wonderful series of overtaking and counter-overtaking. Meanwhile Marco Melandri passes Haslam and moves into second position, with the aim of trying to catch Smrz who is leading solo with six laps to go.

With five laps to go, a crash without consequences for Sykes, who was doing well with the factory Kawasaki. Up front, however, Melandri seems to really have the right pace to reach first position, grinding out many tenths per sector, moving within about a second of Smrz. With four laps to go, Biaggi runs wide on the gravel in an attempt to keep up the fight with Checa and Haga.

With two laps to go, after a truly old-fashioned comeback, Melandri catches up and passes Smrz at the Fogarty chicane, taking the lead of the race. The Czech from Liberty Racing then finishes second, but the twists and turns don't end: Checa is the protagonist of another great comeback and finishes in third position.