WSBK Misano: Carlos Checa takes provisional pole in tight session

Published on 08 Jun 2012 by Toni M.

carlos checa miller 2012

Carlos Checa continued to show great form in the first qualifying practice at the Misano Adriatico World Circuit. The Althea Ducati rider clawed back the top of the timesheets, and like this morning was the first rider of the afternoon session to head under the 1.37 barrier, where he was later joined by another six riders in the tight practice, that was also briefly red flagged when Federico Sandi on Grillini’s BMW crashed out at turn 2.

The reigning World Champion and last year’s double winner posted his best lap in 1.36.521 and his race pace ahead of Sunday’s double header seems imperious, but Honda’s Jonathan Rea contested Checa’s provisional pole right to the end, as he finished second and a mere 0.047s adrift.

Max Biaggi rose to third from this morning’s earlier 7th position and shaving off almost from his previous lap time with his Aprilia RSV4. Marco Melandri was unable to replicated this morning’s lap time of 1′36.795 (he was almost two tenths slower) but it was enough to get him into fourth and tail Biaggi on the timesheets.

Althea Ducati’s David Giugliano had the fifth fastest time ahead of Sylvain Guintoli on the Liberty Racing Ducati. The biggest surprise of the qualifying practice was Loris Baz. The young French rider who was recently confirmed by Kawasaki for the rest of the season, took the seventh spot on the provisional grid and the last rider to lap under the 1.37s.

BMW’s Leon Haslam moved up the timesheets to take 8th despite a crash at the start of the session and he was followed by Liberty Racing’s Miller Motorsports Park pole man Jakub Smrz. Tom Sykes also jumped forward to 10th. His position shows just how tight the session was, as the Kawasaki man was 0.523s from Checa, with the top sixteen riders all within a second.

Not only did Sandi crash out but also Pata’s Lorenzo Zanetti, BMW satellite rider Michele Fabrizio (his second of the day and at the same corner), ParkinGo’s Chaz Davies and Pedercini’s David Salom who was also on his second crash of the day

WSBK Misano QP1 results:

01- Carlos Checa – Althea Racing – Ducati 1198 – 1’36.621
02- Jonathan Rea – Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 0.047
03- Max Biaggi – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 0.182
04- Marco Melandri – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 0.274
05- Davide Giugliano – Althea Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.285
06- Sylvain Guintoli – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.308
07- Loris Baz – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 0.436
08- Leon Haslam – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 0.488
09- Jakub Smrz – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.501
10- Tom Sykes – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 0.523
11- Leon Camier – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 0.759
12- Ayrton Badovini – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet – BMW S1000RR – + 0.774
13- Eugene Laverty – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 0.819
14- Lorenzo Zanetti – PATA Racing Team – Ducati 1198 – + 0.885
15- Niccolò Canepa – Red Devils Roma – Ducati 1198 – + 0.918
16- John Hopkins – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 0.993
17- Matteo Baiocco – Barni Racing Team – Ducati 1198 – + 1.002
18- Michel Fabrizio – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet – BMW S1000RR – + 1.093
19- Hiroshi Aoyama – Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 1.212
20- David Salom – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 1.427
21- Chaz Davies – ParkinGO MTC Racing – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 1.591
22- Maxime Berger – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 1.677
23- Leandro Mercado – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 2.517
24- Federico Sandi – Grillini Progea Superbike Team – BMW S1000RR – + 3.730