CARLOS CHECA AND TEAM ALTHEA RACING JUST 3 POINTS AWAY FROM SECURING THE WORLD SBK TITLE AS THEY HEAD TO THE PENULTIMATE ROUND AT MAGNY-COURS Nevers (France), Tuesday 27th September 2011: having come so close to celebrating title success at last weekend’s Imola round of the World Superbike Championship, the Althea Racing team and rider Carlos Checa move on to the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours to finish the task in hand. The Althea Racing team, under the direction of Genesio Bevilacqua, has barely had time to take in last Sunday’s stunning results at Imola, where Carlos reached the podium, in third, in race 1, before storming to victory in the second race and upping his points total to 417. He was just three points shy of what was needed to celebrate title success in front of the Italian crowds and so, with a 97-point advantage over second-placed rider Melandri, Checa needs less than a handful of points this weekend in order to secure the 2011 World Superbike rider’s title. Ducati also has a significant lead over Aprilia in the manufacturer’s standing, with 441 points to Aprilia’s 376, and could therefore snatch the manufacturer’s title on Sunday. In the Superstock 1000 category, and thanks to a second place finish last week at Imola, Althea Racing rider and championship leader, Davide Giugliano, now has a 41-point lead pver Petrucci, lying in second. He too has his first chance to take the rider’s STK 1000 title for Althea Racing this Sunday if Petrucci were to win the race, Giugliano would have to finish inside the top six to take the title. Ducati holds 190 points while BMW has 153, meaning that on Sunday the Borgo-Panigale based manufacturer could well win the constructor”Ÿs title in this category too. Carlos Checa “We are going to Magny-Cours where we want to make two good races, top level races. The track is not particularly favourable to us but we’ll be giving it our all and we’ll see. We’ve demonstrated our potential all year long and I really don’t want Sunday to be a celebratory “walk in the park,” I prefer to work hard as we have done every weekend, because this is the best way to receive the title. I am expecting an unforgetable day but the prize should be awarded for a year’s worth of hard work, by the entire team. We have a great package and so I would like to accept the trophy in the correct way, which means that we’ll continue to give 100% until the very end.” Checa”Ÿs Superbike form at Magny-Cours: 2010: Race 1- 3rd, Race 2 9th 2009: Race 1 6th, Race 2 9th 2008: Race 1 7th, Race 2 4th CIRCUIT DATA Country: France Name: Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours Length of circuit: 4.411 km Pole Position: right Race distance: 23 laps/101.453 km