Done and dusted

The 2011 World Superbike and British Superbike seasons are now over and the long wait begins for the start of the next one in March next year.

The World Superbike Championship was all about Carlos Checa who ran consistently throughout 2011 onboard his Ducati. Proving that a slight lack of top end speed is nothing to worry about when you have a bike as well set up as his clearly was, he took podiums all around the world and at a wide variety of circuits.

The British Superbike Championship was witness to one of the most amazing finishes ever seen in motorcycling history. Going into the final race of the season at the final round, the championship was between the Suzuki of John Hopkins and and Yamaha of Tommy Hill. The race finished in a final lap decider in which the two title challengers passed each other six or seven times in an adrenaline fuelled two minutes which saw Tommy Hill take the championship by a fraction of a second photo finish.

As a final note, thoughts must be with Marco Simoncelli's friends and family. The sport has lost a great rider and a superb character, RIP Marco.