Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) put in a 1 minute 58.315 second lap on a drying track to take his fourth Tissot Superpole win of the 2011 season and give himself the best possible starting slot for raceday on Monday.

Only just behind was Jakub Smrz (Effenbert-Liberty Ducati), deposed by Checa with no time left to go faster. Yamaha World Superbike team-mates Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty completed the front row, mastering the damp conditions well when it counted most. This is the first front row start for Melandri in WSBK racing and was particularly welcome after he struggled in some earlier sessions at a track he had never seen before first practice. Laverty has now earned three front row starts in the past three races.

Carlos Checa:

“I really like this track, but the bike doesn’t so much! We had some problems that we solved and I hope for tomorrow everything is going to be fine. We’ve been working quite well in the dry, and finally when it was getting dry I was able to get more grip and that’s the main reason I was able to fight for the pole. It’s a nice surprise!”

Jakub Smrz:

“Carlos is good today so he deserves pole position. I think we made a really good job today, the bike was better in the wet, there were no problems to be fast. Hopefully it will be the same in the dry and I hope to fight for the best possible position.”

Marco Melandri:

“For sure I didn’t expect to be on the front row today. On a good wet we are pretty well set up and also the dry, so I had a bit of luck to have the Superpole with difficult conditions, because I could push a bit more. But for sure it’s going to be tough to make all the race like that with the tyre.”

Eugene Laverty:

“It was very difficult with the wet conditions and we had to do a lot of work. But both Marco and I brought the Yamaha up in the wet. I’m confident for tomorrow in both conditions that we’re in good contention for a podium finish.”

The second row is headed by Sylvain Guintoli, Smrz’s team-mate, with the top official BMW rider on show Troy Corser who went sixth. Late faller in Superpole 3, Max Biaggi, was seventh for Aprilia Alitalia and impressive BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike rider Ayrton Badovini was eighth.

Row three is reserved for riders who missed out on Superpole 3, with Aprilia Pata veteran Noriyuki Haga going ninth overall, just ahead of Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike) who went tenth as the track dried out slowly. Aprilia Alitalia rider Leon Camier was lucky to get back into the fray after a fall early in Superpole 1, but he made it back to the pits to take his second bike into Superpole 2 and then qualify 11th overall. Leon Haslam had a tough day again on his BMW Motorrad Motorsport S1000RR, toppling over in Superpole 2 and being unable to make it further up the order than 12th.

After a surprise exit from Superpole 1 Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) was only 13th on the grid with his team-mate Ruben Xaus only one place behind. Former double champion James Toseland (BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike) battled against his still injured right hand to go 18th on the grid, limiting his laps in the wet conditions after he missed out on the top 16 after final regulation qualifying.

World Superbikes – Miller Motorsport Superpole Result

Pos - Rider - Bike - Q1 - Q2 - Superpole

Superpole 3

1 - Checa Carlos - Ducati 1098R - 1'48.260 - 2'07.736 -1'58.315
2 - Smrz Jakub - Ducati 1098R - 1'49.683 - 2'05.714 - 1'58.390
3 - Melandri Marco - Yamaha YZF R1 - 1'50.136 - 2'11.840 - 1'58.609
4 - Laverty Eugene - Yamaha YZF R1 - 1'49.708 - 2'12.187 - 1'58.860
5 - Guintoli Sylvain - Ducati 1098R - 1'50.140 - 2'07.795 - 1'59.069
6 - Corser Troy - BMW S1000 RR - 1'49.552 - 2'11.940 - 1'59.262
7 - Biaggi Max - Aprilia RSV4 Factory - 1'49.306 - 2'08.199 - 1'59.736
8 - Badovini Ayrton - BMW S1000 RR - 1'49.881 - 2'09.644 - 1'59.827

Superpole 2

9 - Haga Noriyuki - Aprilia RSV4 Factory - 1'49.938 - 2'10.694 - 2'00.303
10 - Sykes Tom - Kawasaki ZX-10R - 1'49.432 - 2'09.076 - 2'00.477
11 - Camier Leon - Aprilia RSV4 Factory - 1'49.055 - 2'04.901 - 2'00.643
12 - Haslam Leon - BMW S1000 RR - 1'50.159 - 2'06.351 - 2'01.127

Superpole 1

13 - Rea Jonathan - Honda CBR1000RR - 1'49.621 - 2'09.807 - 2'03.232
14 - Xaus Ruben - Honda CBR1000RR - 1'50.149 - 2'11.678 - 2'03.382
15 - Fabrizio Michel - Suzuki GSX-R1000 - 1'49.855 - 2'17.925 - 2'03.397
16 - Waters Joshua - Suzuki GSX-R1000 - 1'50.153 - 2'13.507 - 2'04.156
Others on the grid
17 - Lascorz Joan - Kawasaki ZX-10R - 1'50.195 - 2'14.153
18 - Toseland James - BMW S1000 RR - 1'50.306 - 2'18.378
19 - Aitchison Mark - Kawasaki ZX-10R - 1'50.646 - 2'11.765
20 - Berger Maxime - Ducati 1098R - 1'50.717 - 2'14.164
21 - Rolfo Roberto - Kawasaki ZX-10R - 1'51.586 - 2'19.316

World Superbikes – Miller Motorsport 2nd Qualifying

Pos - Rider - Bike - Q1 - Q2

1 - Checa Carlos - Ducati 1098R - 1'48.260 - 2'07.736
2 - Camier Leon - Aprilia RSV4 Factory - 1'49.055 - 2'04.901
3 - Biaggi Max - Aprilia RSV4 Factory - 1'49.306 - 2'08.199
4 - Sykes Tom - Kawasaki ZX-10R - 1'49.432 - 2'09.076
5 - Corser Troy - BMW S1000 RR - 1'49.552 - 2'11.940
6 - Rea Jonathan - Honda CBR1000RR - 1'49.621 - 2'09.807
7 - Smrz Jakub - Ducati 1098R - 1'49.683 - 2'05.714
8 - Laverty Eugene - Yamaha YZF R1 - 1'49.708 - 2'12.187
9 - Fabrizio Michel - Suzuki GSX-R1000 - 1'49.855 - 2'17.925
10 - Badovini Ayrton - BMW S1000 RR - 1'49.881 - 2'09.644
11 - Haga Noriyuki - Aprilia RSV4 Factory - 1'49.938 - 2'10.694
12 - Melandri Marco - Yamaha YZF R1 - 1'50.136 - 2'11.840
13 - Guintoli Sylvain - Ducati 1098R - 1'50.140 - 2'07.795
14 - Xaus Ruben - Honda CBR1000RR - 1'50.149 - 2'11.678
15 - Waters Joshua - Suzuki GSX-R1000 - 1'50.153 - 2'13.507
16 - Haslam Leon - BMW S1000 RR - 1'50.159 - 2'06.351
17 - Lascorz Joan - Kawasaki ZX-10R - 1'50.195 - 2'14.153
18 - Toseland James - BMW S1000 RR - 1'50.306 - 2'18.378
19 - Aitchison Mark - Kawasaki ZX-10R - 1'50.646 - 2'11.765
20 - Berger Maxime - Ducati 1098R - 1'50.717 - 2'14.164
21 - Rolfo Roberto - Kawasaki ZX-10R - 1'51.586 - 2'19.316


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