Fresh from WSB’s four week summer break Carlos Checa was the surprise pace setter around the undulating Nurburgring track in Germany. But the 38-year-old Spaniard didn’t just set the pace onboard his Althea Ducati - he dominated with his best lap that was significantly faster than the best lap record which has stood since 2008.

Having announced that they were quitting WSB, it was ironically an exceptionally good day for Ducati with the 1200cc V-Twin filling four of the top-five places on the provisional grid. Their announcement that they will no longer run a factory team in WSB from 2010 has come as a massive blow to the paddock due to their long standing support of the series.

While Ducati personnel were seen in the garages of rival teams trying to secure jobs for next year, it was all smiles in the Kawasaki camp, who gave the WSB paddock a sneak preview of the all new ZX-10R last night. The project has full factory status and support from Japan and first impressions of the bike are that it is a modern design that has been developed exclusively on track and has the potential to be a contender in the class. And the arrival of the new bike seems to have inspired current rider, Tom Sykes, who qualified a credible 10th-place onboard his 2010 spec bike.

The man to split the glut of Ducati’s at the front of the field was BMW Motorrad man Troy Corser. Riding at his team’s home track and a circuit where the Australian has always performed well, Corser set the second-fastest time and is in good shape for the rest of the weekend.

“We started this morning with the bike the way it was when we finished in Silverstone, because I had liked the settings we used there in the second race,” Corser said. “We had to adjust the springs at the front a little bit, and also the rear of the bike to find some grip, and really grip was our main problem today, but that’s normal on the first day. We also worked on getting the bike more stable and trying to mesh together the good settings and feelings of the two different tires we tried today. There’s more work to be done in that area, but I’m feeling fairly good about the prospects this weekend. “

Silverstone race winner Cal Crutchlow was unable to replicate the dominance he showed last time out and finished seventh-fastest onboard his factory Yamaha R1. The 24-year-old spent the sessions evaluating tires, including a new spec Pirelli rear. But unlike Checa, Crutchlow was unable to find any benefit.

“It’s been a good day apart from Carlos lapping in the low 55’s and making the rest of us look slow,” Crutchlow said. “He was unbelievable at Miller and he’s been unbelievable today. You can see that the Ducati works well here, especially through the tight and twisty stuff, which is exactly where we’re struggling. I spoke to Jonathan (Rea) earlier and we were talking about how we were so far ahead at Silverstone, but I already know that Sunday’s race isn’t going to be like that.”

Leon Camier saw any chance of replicating his stunning podium at Silverstone come to an abrupt halt after the factory Aprilia rider was diagnosed with a broken scaphoid after crashing at Turn 6. The British rider will certainly miss this weekend’s race and it remains doubtful if he will be fit for the final two rounds of the championship at Imola and Magny Cours.

Aprilia teammate, Max Biaggi, had a solid day to finish in sixth with his closest title rival, Leon Haslam, down in 11th after struggling to get the new tires available dialed into his Alstare Suzuki.