WSB Misano: Checa leads the way in first qualifying, One second separates top 16

World Champion Carlos Checa set the fastest time of the day during the opening qualifying session at Misano today.

The Althea Ducati rider posted a 1.36.521s best and will be determined to bounce back from his costly mistake at Miller two weeks ago when he crashed out of the lead.

Second place went to Honda Superbike rider Jonathan Rea who is clearly full of confidence following his recent run of results. The British rider dropped as low as ninth in the session before fitting a new race tyre and jumping u[p the grid.

Speaking to MCN he said: “We made some good changes for the afternoon session and combined with the grip of the track getting better we did ok. This track requires a unique set-up our bike is very nimble but in some areas of the track it’s maybe too twitchy so we actually need to make it a little bit more lazy.”

Title leader Max Biaggi looked strong at a circuit where he has historically performed well to claim the third spot ahead of the man in form Marco Melandri who has won two out of the last four races.

Leon Haslam ran at the front earlier in the session but ended eight albeit just 0.448s off the pace. Tom Sykes overcame a difficult morning session where he was 1.2 seconds off the pace to close to within 0.523s of Checa, but still ended the day in tenth spot.

Leon Camier finished 11th with Miller front runner Chaz Davies in 21st.

Less than one second separated Checa in pole and John Hopkins in 16th place.

Misano Adriatico – FIM Superbike World Championship – Qualifying 1

1. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’36.521
2. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1’36.568
3. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’36.703
4. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’36.795
5. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’36.806
6. Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’36.829
7. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’36.957
8. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’37.009
9. Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1098R 1’37.022
10. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’37.044
11. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’37.280
12. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1’37.295
13. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’37.340
14. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 1’37.406
15. Niccolò Canepa (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1098R 1’37.439
16. John Hopkins (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’37.514
17. Matteo Baiocco (Barni Racing Team Italia) Ducati 1098R 1’37.523
18. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1’37.614
19. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1’37.733
20. David Salom (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’37.948
21. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’38.112
22. Maxime Berger (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’38.198
23. Leandro Mercado (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’39.038
24. Federico Sandi (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 1’40.251