World SBK 2011 – Round Five – Salt Lake City, USA
Carlos Checa continued his brilliant first day form on the Althea Racing Ducati machine at Miller Motorsports Park, the points leader and fastest rider in the first free session this morning blasting his way to a time of 1 minute 48.260 seconds and provisional pole.
With a few drops of rain appearing towards the end of the session, but not sufficient to disturb normal proceedings, the time that Checa set in the early phase was a full eight-tenths of a second clear of the one recorded by the next man, Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia). The young Brit was competitive enough to end the session just ahead of his team-mate and last year’s double winner at Miller, Max Biaggi.
Kawasaki Racing Team’s Tom Sykes put together a quick lap to earn the final place on the provisional front row, just a tenth behind Biaggi. With the possibility of rain looming for the second day of action the top riders were keen to get a fast lap in one day one to ensure qualification into the Tissot Superpole contest.
Other riders who featured well up in the one-hour session were Aussie Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) in fifth, followed by Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda), Jakub Smrz (Effenbert-Liberty Ducati) and Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike), who make up the provisional second row. Michel Fabrizio, who is suffering from a heavy bout of flu, was next up in ninth for Suzuki Alstare, with Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK) completing the top 10.
Wildcard rider Josh Waters took his Yoshimura Suzuki to a fine 15th place, one up on Corser’s team-mate Leon Haslam. First time Miller man Marco Melandri was 12th on his Yamaha World Superbike machine. Outside the top 16 for the moment are Spain’s Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team) and the still convalescing James Toseland (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK) in 17th and 18th places respectively.
1. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’48.260
2. Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’49.055
3. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’49.306
4. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’49.432
5. Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’49.552
6. Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) Honda CBR1000RR 1’49.621
7. Jakub Smrz (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’49.683
8. Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike Team) Yamaha YZF R1 1’49.708
9. Michel Fabrizio (Team Suzuki Alstare) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’49.855
10. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team) BMW S1000 RR 1’49.881
11. Noriyuki Haga (PATA Racing Team Aprilia) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’49.938
12. Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team) Yamaha YZF R1 1’50.136
13. Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’50.140
14. Ruben Xaus (Castrol Honda) Honda CBR1000RR 1’50.149
15. Joshua Waters (Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Team) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’50.153
16. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’50.159
17. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’50.195
18. James Toseland (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team) BMW S1000 RR 1’50.306
19. Mark Aitchison (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’50.646
20. Maxime Berger (Supersonic Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 1’50.717
21. Roberto Rolfo (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’51.586