Rea Superbike Winner in Phillip Island

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Reigning champion Jonathan Rea clinched a double win in round one of the World Superbike series in Australia after Chaz Davies slid off on the last lap.

As was the case in Saturday's opener, the Northern Irishman and Welsh rider duelled on the final lap but on Sunday Davies came off after running wide.

That left Rea, 29, to finish 0.83 seconds ahead of Dutchman Michael van der Mark with Davide Giugliano third.

Davies, 29, remounted his bike to cross the line in 10th spot.

Rea pipped Ducati rider Davies by 0.063 seconds in Saturday's season-opener in Phillip Island with Van der Mark taking third.

The Northern Irishman is aiming to emulate the achievement of Carl Fogarty, who successfully defended his title twice in the 1990s.

Rea won 14 of the 26 races last year and was on the podium 23 times.

The defending champion's Kawasaki team-mate Tom Sykes led for almost half the race before a mistake dropped him back to fourth.

Dutchman Van der Mark then led for seven laps before Davies edged into the lead prior to his final-lap mishap.

Nicky Hayden, the 2006 MotoGP champion, took fourth with Sylvain Guintoli and Britain's Tom Sykes completing the top six.

Rea was delighted to complete his weekend double which emphasised that he is likely to be the rider to beat again this season.

"It's incredible to start my year here with the double," the Northern Irishman said.

Rea's opening double victory gives him a 14-point lead over Van der Mark heading into the second round in Thailand in two weeks.

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Luis Carreira 1976 - 2012

Motorsport has been rocked by the death of another biker - Luis Carreira - ahead of the Macau Grand Prix.

The tragedy comes a year after MotoGP legend Marco Simoncelli died in a horrific crash at the race in Malaysia.

Superbikes Carreira, the 35-year-old Portuguese, crashed on Fisherman's Bend during qualifying today at the Guia circuit. No other riders were involved in the accident. 

Race organisers said two doctors went to the rider's aid and he was then taken to a hospital but was declared dead about 20 minutes after arriving.

A statement from the Macau Grand Prix committee read: 'We regret to announce that Luis Filipe de Sousa Carreira, competitor No 33, from Portugal, in the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix – 46th edition, has succumbed to injuries sustained in a racing accident during the qualifying session this afternoon.

'No other rider was involved in the incident, which occurred at Fisherman’s Bend at 15.58. The qualifying session was immediately red flagged.

'The medical services, a fast intervention vehicle, fully equipped, and an ambulance with two doctors in attendance, which were located at the side of the accident immediately went to the rider’s aid, and as a result of the doctors’ diagnosis, Mr Carreira was immediately evacuated by ambulance to the Hospital, where he was admitted at 16.08.

'Continuous CPR was performed, however he succumbed to his injuries at 16.28.

'The Macau Grand Prix Committee has contacted the family and the members of the team, and the Committee expresses its sincere condolences.

'The qualifying session was abandoned at 16.30.'

Carreira raced for the Bennimoto Raider-Cetelem team.

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Biaggi Extends Misano Lead to Max

Max Biaggi enjoyed an outstanding double victory at Misano to extend his lead at the top of the Superbike world championship standings.

Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) was able to ease down on the final lap of the second race to win by 5.355sec from Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) and Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport). They finished narrowly ahead of Marco Melandri and Ayrton Badovini, both aboard BMWs.

In race one, Biaggi turned in an excellent ride to win from the third row, narrowly holding off the challenge of Althea Racing's Carlos Checa on his Ducati.

Checa had charged from 16th on the grid to take second place but would crash out of race two. His Althea team-mate Davide Giugliano took third in race one but also failed to finish race two.

Biaggi has 210.5 points at the top of the standings, ahead of Rea on 172 and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) on 164.5.

Biaggi Amongst Winners in Oz

Max Biaggi of Italy claimed the season-opening World Superbike race at Philllip Island from compatriot Marco Melandri after the reigning champion, Carlos Checa, crashed out in dramatic fashion.

The Italian bounced back in race two, claiming second after dropping to last in a heart-stopping moment on the first lap.

Biaggi was challenging Tom Sykes for the lead at turn one when he was forced wide, running off the track at more than 250kph before rejoining dead last.

With Biaggi out of the way Rea took the lead on lap two but was soon passed by race one crasher Carlos Checa on lap five.

Guintoli crashed out of seventh on lap 10, helping Biaggi’s climb back through the field as Marco Melandri passed Eugene Laverty for sixth.

Juan Lascorz joined the ever-growing list of retirees on lap 11 as Biaggi jumped to sixth ahead of Aprilia teammate Laverty and set his sights on the BMW of fellow Italian Melandri.

Biaggi went by Tom Sykes on lap 17 and the two traded blows over the next lap and a half before the Italian managed to gap the Kawasaki and chase down Jonathan Rea – passing the Honda rider with three laps remaining.

Biaggi couldn't hunt down Checa though, who recovered from a horror crash early in the day to win race two while Tom Sykes reclaimed the final podium spot from Rea in the dying stages.

It was a tough day for the Aussies with Mark Aitchison crashed out on lap two while David Johnson retired with a mechanical issue halfway through the race.

Kawasaki's Bryan Staring finished 16th behind compatriot Josh Brookes aboard a Suzuki.

Checa was ejected from his Ducati exiting the final corner on lap five at more than 180kph and was lucky to walk away.

After starting on pole Tom Sykes led early aboard his Kawasaki but faded to finish fourth behind Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli.

But ride of the race belongs to Marco Melandri who wrestled his under-done BMW from 13th on the grid to a sensational second position.

Bryan Staring was the first of the Aussies home in 10th aboard his Team Pedercini Kawasaki.

Kenan Sofuoglu has claimed a World Supersport race marred by a multi-bike crash on lap one.

A Yamaha rider appeared to lose control of his machine on the run into MG Corner, sliding down the hill and bringing down several other riders. None of the riders involved were seriously injured in the crash.

Aussie Broc Parkes was sixth early in the race and began to push with four laps remaining, climbing to fourth behind Fabien Foret, Jules Cluzel and Kenan Sofuoglu with one lap remaining.

Parkes passed teammate Cluzel for third on the final lap as the two Kawasaki riders Foret and Sofuoglu battled for the win - with Sofuoglu holding off the Frenchman.

The second Aussie in the race, Jed Metcher, was egded out of a top-10 position on the line and finished 11th.

Rea is Fastest on Phillip Island

British Honda rider Jonathan Rea had the fastest time in Friday's opening qualifying for the first round of the World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island.

The past four months of training in Australia paid off as Rea posted a lap of 1min 31.959sec at the end of the 45-minute session to upstage Ducati's Czech rider Jakub Smrz by just 0.157 seconds.

Italian Davide Giugliano was the surprise in third place on the provisional grid ahead of Ducati team-mate and defending world champion Carlos Checa.

The 39-year-old Spaniard, who will be chasing his fourth straight win at Philip Island on Sunday, fell after running off the circuit at turn 10 but escaped injury.

Other riders to fall during the session included internationals Joan Lascorz, Maxime Berger, Eugene Laverty and Australia's Josh Brookes.

Best of the Australians was Bryan Staring, 14th fastest on his Kawasaki, followed by Suzuki's Brookes at 20th and BMW pair Mark Aitchison and David Johnson 23rd and 24th, respectively.

There was better news for home riders in the Supersport category with Newcastle's Broc Parkes putting his Honda on provisional pole position for Sunday's 21-lap support race.

Just 0.275 seconds separated the top five riders.

Parkes has returned to the same Dutch team he rode for in 2004, when he finished second in the championship behind compatriot Karl Muggeridge.

"Considering I had a late start to the season, I couldn't be happier with how things are going," said Parkes.

"And what's even more pleasing is that I've really just been concentrating on trying to do long runs and working on tyre set-up, but the times are still coming. That's given me a lot of confidence."

Australia's second rider, Jed Metcher, finished 24th as he continues to iron out some of the bugs in a Yamaha he is riding for the first time this weekend.

Final qualifying for both categories will be held on Saturday.

NI Superbike Duo Set for Phillip Island

Northern Ireland's Jonathan Rea and Eugene Laverty will both be looking to put injuries behind them when they compete this weekend in the 2012 Superbike World Championship in Australia.

Toomebridge's Laverty, racing for Aprilia, suffered a fracture to his left hand in a practice session crash at the Phillip Island circuit last week.

But he now looks set to be back in action, after flying a specialist from Northern Ireland to Australia to help speed his recovery.

"Fortunately, we've had more than a week off the bike which has allowed the hand to improve a huge amount - I feel confident that I'll be fit to ride, but I guess I'll have to wait until Friday to find out," Laverty said.

"Honestly I feel that Carlos Checa and my teammate Max (Biaggi) are out of reach unless I'm 100%, but it won't stop me from trying!"

Meanwhile, Honda rider Rea will be hoping for more success this season than last - when he was sidelined for two months with wrist, arm and collarbone injuries - although he did go on to pick up two wins and finish with an encouraging double podium at Portimão,

"It's been really good just being on track with the others and I'm really enjoying riding the bike," the Ballyclare man said.

"I can really feel what the bike's doing and the electronics are working really well. I'm looking forward to Friday's sessions."

But the 25-year-old insists there's still work to be done if the team are to challenge the Althea Ducati team's defending champion, Spaniard Carlos Checa.

"We're where we kind of expected to be and we know that to win here is going to be a very big task," Rea said.

"Carlos is riding very well and consistently, but we're still changing things on the bike because I'm still not 100% satisfied with the set-up."

Checa remains among the front-runners - along with top rivals Max Biaggi (Laverty's Aprilia teammate) and BMW's Marco Melandri - despite his Ducati carrying a 6kg handicap in an effort to limit its superiority.

American John Hopkins will be out through injury, while British rider Leon Haslam is also a doubt.

Hopkins is recovering from surgery on a fracture to his right hand, just weeks after having part of a finger on the same hand amputated.

Haslam has also undergone surgery on a fractured tibia sustained in a crash earlier this week.