The 2011 Superbike World Championship was the twenty-fourth season of the Superbike World Championship. It began on 27 February at Phillip Island and finished on 16 October in Portimão after 13 rounds.

The knockout system introduced for Superpole in 2009 was revised as the number of riders admitted to the first two sessions was reduced from twenty to sixteen and from sixteen to twelve respectively.^[1][2]

Ducati no longer competed with a factory team in 2011, after 23 seasons which had brought the marque a total of 29 riders' and manufacturers' championship titles, instead limiting its participation to privateer teams running their works bikes.^[3] Aprilia's gear-driven camshafts on its RSV4 motorcycle – which won the title in 2010 with Max Biaggi – was banned for the 2011 season.^[4]

After a dominating since season opening, Carlos Checa won his first championship and Ducati's 17th manufacturer title.

Race calendar and results

The provisional race schedule was publicly announced by the FIM on 7 October 2010 with eleven confirmed rounds and two other rounds pending confirmation.^[5] Having been announced as a venue from 2011 onwards in May 2010,^[6] Motorland Aragon replaced Kyalami on the calendar, while Donington Park returned to the championship, hosting the European round.^[7] Imola was confirmed in November 2010, to finalise a 13-round calendar.^[8] All races with the exception of Miller Motorsports Park – races held on Memorial Day Monday – were held on Sundays.

Round		Country	Circuit	Date	Superpole	Fastest lap	Winning rider	Winning team	Report
1	R1	Australia	Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit	27 February	Carlos Checa	Max Biaggi	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing	Report
	R2					Max Biaggi	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing
2	R1	Great Britain	Donington Park	27 March	Carlos Checa	Noriyuki Haga	Marco Melandri	Yamaha World Superbike Team	Report
	R2					Carlos Checa	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing
3	R1	Netherlands	TT Circuit Assen	17 April	Carlos Checa	Tom Sykes	Jonathan Rea	Castrol Honda Team	Report
	R2					Leon Camier	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing
4	R1	Italy	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza	8 May	Max Biaggi	Michel Fabrizio	Eugene Laverty	Yamaha World Superbike Team	Report
	R2					Max Biaggi	Eugene Laverty	Yamaha World Superbike Team
5	R1	United States	Miller Motorsports Park	30 May	Carlos Checa	Carlos Checa	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing	Report
	R2					Carlos Checa	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing
6	R1	San Marino	Misano World Circuit	12 June	Tom Sykes	Carlos Checa	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing	Report
	R2					Carlos Checa	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing
7	R1	Spain	Motorland Aragón	19 June	Marco Melandri	Carlos Checa	Marco Melandri	Yamaha World Superbike Team	Report
	R2					Marco Melandri	Max Biaggi	Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team
8	R1	Czech Republic	Masaryk Circuit	10 July	Max Biaggi	Marco Melandri	Marco Melandri	Yamaha World Superbike Team	Report
	R2					Marco Melandri	Max Biaggi	Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team
9	R1	Great Britain	Silverstone Circuit	31 July	John Hopkins	Carlos Checa	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing	Report
	R2					Max Biaggi	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing
10	R1	Germany	Nürburgring	4 September	Carlos Checa	Carlos Checa	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing	Report
	R2					Noriyuki Haga	Tom Sykes	Kawasaki Racing Team
11	R1	Italy	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari	25 September	Carlos Checa	Noriyuki Haga	Jonathan Rea	Castrol Honda Team	Report
	R2					Carlos Checa	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing
12	R1	France	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours	2 October	Jonathan Rea	Carlos Checa	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing	Report
	R2					Carlos Checa	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing
13	R1	Portugal	Autódromo Internacional do Algarve	16 October	Jonathan Rea	Sylvain Guintoli	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing	Report
	R2					Joan Lascorz	Marco Melandri	Yamaha World Superbike Team

Entry list

2011 entry list[9] Team Constructor Motorcycle No. Rider Rounds Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team Aprilia Aprilia RSV4 1000 1 Max Biaggi[10] 1–10, 13 2 Leon Camier[11] All Castrol Honda[12] Honda Honda CBR1000RR 4 Jonathan Rea[13] 1–6, 10–13 22 Alex Lowes[14] 8–9 31 Karl Muggeridge[15] 13 32 Fabrizio Lai[16] 9 100 Makoto Tamada[17] 10 111 Rubén Xaus[18] 1–8, 11–12 Althea Racing Ducati Ducati 1098R 7 Carlos Checa[19] All 23 Federico Sandi[20] 11 34 Davide Giugliano[15] 13 Team Pedercini[21] Kawasaki[21] Kawasaki ZX-10R 8 Mark Aitchison[22] All 44 Roberto Rolfo[23] 1–12 51 Santiago Barragán[24] 13 67 Bryan Staring[25] 1 Samsung Crescent Racing[26] Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 10 Jon Kirkham[26] 9 211 John Hopkins[26] 9 BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW BMW S1000RR 11 Troy Corser[27] 1–7, 9–13 91 Leon Haslam[28] All Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Team Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 12 Josh Waters[29] 1, 5, 13 Prop-tech Ltd. Honda Honda CBR1000RR 13 Viktor Kispataki[30] 8 Barni Racing Team Ducati Ducati 1098R 15 Matteo Baiocco[31] 6, 8, 11 53 Alessandro Polita[31] 6, 11 Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki Kawasaki ZX-10R 17 Joan Lascorz[32] All 66 Tom Sykes[33] All 77 Chris Vermeulen[34] 2–4, 6–8 Echo Sport Racing Company Honda Honda CBR1000RR 32 Fabrizio Lai[35] 4 Yamaha World Superbike Team Yamaha Yamaha YZF-R1 33 Marco Melandri[36] All 58 Eugene Laverty[37] All BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team[38] BMW BMW S1000RR[38] 37 Barry Veneman[39] 3 52 James Toseland[38] 1, 4–5, 9–10 57 Lorenzo Lanzi[40] 6–8 86 Ayrton Badovini[38] All 112 Javier Forés[41] 11–13 PATA Racing Team Aprilia[42] Aprilia[42] Aprilia RSV4 1000 41 Noriyuki Haga[42] All Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing[43] Ducati[43] Ducati 1098R 50 Sylvain Guintoli[44] All 96 Jakub Smrž[43] All Team Suzuki Alstare[45] Suzuki[45] Suzuki GSX-R1000 84 Michel Fabrizio[46] All Supersonic Racing Team Ducati Ducati 1098R 121 Maxime Berger[47] All

Key Regular rider Wildcard rider Replacement rider

• All entries used Pirelli tyres.

Championship standings

Riders' standings

Pos. Rider Bike AUS EUR NED ITA USA SMR SPA CZE GBR GER ITA FRA POR Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1 Checa Ducati 1 1 3 1 3 1 9 10 1 1 1 1 Ret 3 3 3 1 1 1 8 3 1 1 1 1 4 505 2 Melandri Yamaha 5 3 1 2 4 Ret 4 2 10 6 3 Ret 1 2 1 2 3 3 2 6 8 6 2 2 6 1 395 3 Biaggi Aprilia 2 2 7 DSQ 2 2 2 8 Ret 3 2 2 2 1 2 1 11 4 DNS DNS 4 7 303 4 Laverty Yamaha 4 15 Ret 14 7 6 1 1 5 4 5 13 4 6 5 5 2 2 4 5 5 4 5 3 19 2 303 5 Haslam BMW 3 5 4 4 12 5 3 Ret 8 13 Ret 5 9 9 8 7 4 8 5 9 Ret 5 3 4 9 15 224 6 Guintoli Ducati Ret DNS 11 11 Ret 10 12 7 3 7 7 7 11 11 20 9 6 6 6 2 6 7 6 5 2 5 210 7 Camier Aprilia 13 6 8 3 Ret 4 8 Ret 4 2 6 Ret 3 8 7 Ret 15 5 8 Ret 15 3 4 6 12 6 208 8 Haga Aprilia 9 7 6 17 Ret 8 16 4 9 Ret Ret 3 6 7 12 10 Ret Ret 3 Ret 2 2 7 10 15 11 176 9 Rea Honda 12 4 5 6 1 3 6 Ret Ret 11 DNS DNS 10 4 1 Ret Ret Ret 3 3 170 10 Badovini BMW 14 Ret 13 9 9 15 11 6 7 9 8 4 8 10 6 6 10 10 9 7 9 10 Ret 8 13 9 165 11 Lascorz Kawasaki Ret Ret 10 5 11 12 Ret 9 14 12 9 9 7 5 9 8 7 Ret 7 11 10 8 8 7 5 8 161 12 Fabrizio Suzuki 6 8 Ret 7 5 7 5 3 Ret 5 Ret 6 Ret 4 4 4 Ret 9 16 Ret Ret Ret 12 Ret 11 14 152 13 Sykes Kawasaki 8 9 Ret 12 14 11 13 11 6 10 4 14 5 Ret 10 14 DNS DNS 11 1 4 Ret 10 Ret 8 Ret 141 14 Smrž Ducati 7 11 2 8 Ret 9 10 Ret 2 8 Ret Ret Ret Ret 11 Ret Ret 11 Ret 3 7 Ret Ret DNS 10 13 127 15 Corser BMW 10 19 9 13 6 Ret 7 5 13 Ret Ret DNS 10 Ret 9 Ret 15 12 12 Ret 9 9 14 16 87 16 Berger Ducati 20 18 Ret Ret Ret 13 14 Ret 11 14 10 Ret 13 Ret 13 Ret 8 12 Ret 10 Ret 13 Ret 12 7 10 64 17 Xaus Honda 16 10 12 10 8 14 15 12 Ret 18 11 8 16 Ret Ret DNS 17 11 DNS DNS 49 18 Rolfo Kawasaki 11 12 14 15 Ret 16 Ret 13 17 16 Ret 12 14 13 14 11 13 Ret 14 13 18 Ret 13 Ret 42 19 Aitchison Kawasaki 19 16 15 16 10 18 17 14 16 17 Ret Ret 15 12 16 12 Ret 14 12 Ret 11 9 Ret Ret 17 20 36 20 Hopkins Suzuki 5 7 20 21 Vermeulen Kawasaki DNS DNS Ret DNS DNS DNS 14 10 12 14 18 DNS 14 22 Toseland BMW 17 14 DNS DNS 15 DNS WD WD 12 13 13 Ret 13 23 Forés BMW Ret 14 11 11 Ret 19 12 24 Lanzi BMW 15 11 Ret 15 17 13 10 25 Waters Suzuki 18 13 12 15 21 18 8 26 Sandi Ducati 13 12 7 27 Polita Ducati 13 Ret 14 Ret 5 28 Giugliano Ducati 16 12 4 29 Baiocco Ducati 12 Ret Ret Ret 16 Ret 4 30 Veneman BMW 13 17 3 31 Kirkham Suzuki 14 15 3 32 Kispataki Honda 19 15 1 33 Lowes Honda 15 Ret Ret Ret 1 34 Lai Honda 18 15 Ret 16 1 35 Staring Kawasaki 15 17 1 Muggeridge Honda 18 17 0 Tamada Honda 17 Ret 0 Barragán Kawasaki 20 Ret 0 Pos. Rider Bike AUS EUR NED ITA USA SMR SPA CZE GBR GER ITA FRA POR Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole position Italics – Fastest lap

Manufacturers' standings

Pos. Manufacturer AUS EUR NED ITA USA SMR SPA CZE GBR GER ITA FRA POR Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1 Ducati 1 1 2 1 3 1 9 7 1 1 1 1 11 3 3 3 1 1 1 2 3 1 1 1 1 4 529 2 Yamaha 4 3 1 2 4 6 1 1 5 4 3 13 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 5 5 4 2 2 6 1 450 3 Aprilia 2 2 6 3 2 2 2 4 4 2 2 2 2 1 2 1 11 4 3 Ret 2 2 4 6 4 6 422 4 BMW 3 5 4 4 6 5 3 5 7 9 8 4 8 9 6 6 4 8 5 7 9 5 3 4 9 9 275 5 Kawasaki 8 9 10 5 10 11 13 9 6 10 4 9 5 5 9 8 7 14 7 1 4 8 8 7 5 8 228 6 Honda 12 4 5 6 1 3 6 12 Ret 11 11 8 16 Ret 15 15 Ret 16 10 4 1 11 Ret Ret 3 3 194 7 Suzuki 6 8 Ret 7 5 7 5 3 12 5 Ret 6 Ret 4 4 4 5 7 16 Ret Ret Ret 12 Ret 11 14 169 Pos. Manufacturer AUS EUR NED ITA USA SMR SPA CZE GBR GER ITA FRA POR Pts