Team Alstare Suzuki rider Michel Fabrizio suffered problems with his right wrist and rear grip in today's 13th and final World Superbike Championship round at Portimao in Portugal that saw him finish in 11th and 14th positions.

The GSX-R1000-mounted Italian was hoping to end the final round with a pair of strong top-10 finishes. Although problems that began in practice and qualifying were less today, it was not enough to allow him to be as aggressive as he would have liked to have been.

Carlos Checa (Ducati) won the first race with Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati) second and Jonathan Rea (Honda) third. The second race - the final one of the season - saw Yamaha take a one-two with Marco Melandri taking victory ahead of Eugene Laverty, with Rea third.

Michel Fabrizio - Race 1: 11th, Race 2: 14th:

"I am disappointed to end the season like this because today could've been so much better. I didn't feel confident this weekend and although there was an improvement today, it was not enough for me. Between the warm-up and race one, we changed the bike back to the set-up we used in the second free practice, because that was the one that worked the best for me.

"In race one, my right wrist started getting sore and I was having difficulty on the brakes and getting the bike to turn quickly enough. It was very hard controlling the bike, so I suppose 11th wasn't so bad. We changed the front and rear a bit for race two - just a few clicks - so that I didn't have to exert so much pressure on the bars and it felt better. I just wished I didn't have to end the last race weekend of the season like this."

YOSHIMURA SUZUKI GAINS VALUED WSB DATA:

Yoshimura Suzuki completed its third "Wild Card" entry of 2011 at today's final round of the World Superbike Championship at Portimao in Portugal and came away upbeat after two race finishes and more valuable technical data to take back to Japan.

Australian Josh Waters and the aftermarket parts-tuning giant, mixed it with the world's WSBK regulars on a track unknown to all of them and took home 21st and an 18th position in the hotly-contested 22-lap races on arguably the 'most-beautifully-prepared and looking machine on the grid,' according to the media - and at the most-difficult and technically-demanding circuit on the calendar.

Riding a modified version of the team's Suzuka 8-Hour Endurance machine - and on completely different tyres than the bike was set-up for - that Waters, Yukio Kagayama and Nobu Aoki brought home to a close second-placed finish in July, Waters continued a steep learning curve, both for himself and the team; at the cutting-edge of world-level competition.

Josh Waters - Race 1: 21st, Race 2: 18th:

"To say that today has been hard is an understatement. All weekend, we've been working as hard as we can, but we've been up against a load of people with a lot more experience than us and that experience told today. We've been trying to get our bike set up in just three days, whereas the others here have had all season. Part of the problem is that the last time I rode this bike was in the Suzuka 8 Hour race and then it was on different tyres. The bike was set up for those tyres and so we've spent a lot of time trying to get the bike to work on the Pirellis here. That, together with learning the hardest track on the calendar has been a real challenge.

"But I am so happy to have been here and so happy that Yoshimura gave me this chance. As I said yesterday, we've had to learn a lot in a very short space of time - and that is never easy. The results probably don't look so good, but the team and I have tried our very best and we can hold our heads up that we have done so. It was good to have a dice with a fellow Aussie in race two and generally great fun competing against all the top guys. Hopefully, we'll get the chance to do it again soon.

"I had a problem with the shifter in the first race and had to pit. The team made some changes to it and I went out again, but the stop meant I had lost a lot of time, so 21st wasn't a bad result. Race two was a bit better, but these guys don't give anything away at all. We've been up against top riders and top teams who have tested here before and gained lots of information, whereas we were starting from scratch. But, we've learnt a lot and can take that with us for the next time."

Yohei Kato - Team Manager:

"Josh had problems in race one with the gear shift lever and had to pit, so we could make some adjustments to it. He went out again, but obviously he had lost a lot of time and was way down the field. We're a bit disappointed with the results today, but we knew it was going to be a hard weekend. It has been a very big learning experience for all of us in the team and we will build on this knowledge for the future."

Final World Superbike Results:

Race 1: 1 Carlos Checa (ESP-Ducati, 2 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA-Ducati), 3 Jonathan Rea (GBR-Honda), 4 Max Biaggi (ITA-Aprilia), 5 Joan Lascorz (ESP-Kawasaki), 6 Marco Melandri (ITA-Yamaha). 11 Michel Fabrizio (ITA-Alstare Suzuki), 21 Josh Waters (JPN-Yoshimura Suzuki).

Race 2: 1 Melandri, 2 Eugene Laverty (GBR-Yamaha), 3 Rea, 4 Checa, 5 Guintoli, 6 Leon Camier. 14 Michel Fabrizio (ITA-Alstare Suzuki), 18 Josh Waters (JPN-Yoshimura Suzuki).