Althea Ducati rider Carlos Checa dominated the final Superpole session with a fabulous new track best lap of 1’47.081, beating Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) by 0.333 seconds and Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda) by 0.567 seconds, in a session that was red-flagged for a time and then re-started.

Jakub Smrz (Pata B&G Ducati) was fourth, one place ahead of championship leader, Leon Haslam (Alstare Suzuki). Smrz was one of a few top riders to crash today, as track temperatures and the levels of competition heated up.

Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) was happy in sixth place, with Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) overcoming the effects of a huge crash that brought out the red flags to go seventh, one place up on Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia).

Ruben Xaus (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) was just out of the final Superpole qualifying session, ninth fastest and top BMW rider after Troy Corser fell in Superpole two and finished 15th.

The second factory Ducati of Michel Fabrizio was tenth fastest, ahead of Checa’s team-mate, Shane Byrne.

Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare) went 12th in his first qualifying experience at Miller. Impressive Ducati privateer Luca Scassa was 13th on his Supersonic Racing team 1098, ahead of struggling James Toseland, from the Yamaha Sterilgarda team.

The official Kawasaki Racing Team duo of Chris Vermeulen and Tom Sykes missed out on Superpole 2, with Sykes having a crunching high-side crash in Superpole 1.

Local rider Roger Lee Hayden (Pedercini Kawasaki) went 20th.



Rider Comments:

Carlos Checa:

“I know this track and I really like this track. And we made a good job. I always have some success here; always feel well. Even now with the Ducati we have had fantastic performance. I didn’t expect to get this lap time and to get the Superpole win. We know the Aprilia has a lot of speed. With a lot of grip even this makes it more difficult. But finally, this lap time was fantastic.”

Max Biaggi:

“I think we have been in a good pace since yesterday and we have found a way to work better with one bike than the other, in chassis and set-up of the suspension. Today we have found a good way in Superpole and we will start from the front row, which is important"

Cal Crutchlow:

“It has not been too bad but the pace was so fast. Carlos and Max have been fast all weekend. All credit to Carlos, what a fantastic lap. I could not get anywhere near that and yet I have been going well in Superpole lately. We should have two close races tomorrow and we have a good chance of being in the top five, because we have good race pace.”