Carlos Checa continued to set the pace at Miller Motorsports Park, claiming provisional pole in Saturday's afternoon qualfiying practice.
Althea Ducati’s Carlos Checa continued to lead the World Superbike timesheets throughout Saturday afternoon’s qualifying practice at Miller Motorsports Park. The Spanish rider bettered his morning best by more than six-tenths. The top-three in the qualifying session mirrored the earlier practice, with the Aprilia duo of Leon Camier and Max Biaggi holding down second and third on the timesheet. Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes also dropped more than a half-second off his morning’s best to round out the provisional front row.
Checa seized the provisional pole by a 0.795 gap. Although Camier dropped his morning time by a half-second, he still lost ground to Checa. Checa’s results come despite the Ducati being down on top speed prowess, registering a best of 299 kmph (186 mph) on the start-finish straight. Biaggi, meanwhile, coaxed another couple mph out of his RSV4 – upping top speed down the start-finish straight to 315.5 kmph – an even 196 mph. The defending champ sits a full second behind the points leader.
Troy Corser leads provisional Row 2, the top-placed BMW on Saturday. Teammate Leon Haslam went backwards in the afternoon session, dropping to 16th on the timesheet. Instead Ayrton Badovini was the second-fastest Beemer in 10th, with James Toseland 18th-fastest on the day.
Jonathan Rea led the Honda charge, sixth-fastest on the Ten Kate/Castrol team. The Irishman was trailed in the session times by Ducati privateer Jakub Smrz and the top-place Yamaha rider, Eugene Laverty. As for the other Yamaha SBK rookie, Marco Melandri was 12th-fastest, the Italian facing the Utah circuit for the first time.
Michel Fabrizio was the fastest of the two Suzuki riders, the Alstare pilot ninth. The other GSX-R100, a Yoshimura-prepped wild card, was 15th once again, though rider Josh Waters shaved a near full second off his free practice best.
The closing laps of the hour-long session prefaced a probable scenario for Sunday and Monday, as a light smattering of rain began to fall on the MMP circuit. Forecasts call for a 60% chance of showers on Sunday, with 50% on Monday and scattered thunderstorms possible.
2011 World Superbike Saturday Qualifying Results:
1. Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1'48.260
2. Leon Camier (Aprilia) 1'49.055
3. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) 1'49.306
4. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 1'49.432
5. Troy Corser (BMW) 1'49.552
6. Jonathan Rea (Honda) 1'49.621
7. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) 1'49.683
8. Eugene Laverty (Yamaha) 1'49.708
9. Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki) 1'49.855
10. Ayrton Badovini (BMW) 1'49.881
11. Noriyuki Haga (Aprilia) 1'49.938
12. Marco Melandri (Yamaha) 1'50.136
13. Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati) 1'50.140
14. Ruben Xaus (Honda) 1'50.149
15. Josh Waters (Suzuki) 1'50.153
16. Leon Haslam (BMW) 1'50.159
17. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki) 1'50.195
18. James Toseland (BMW) 1'50.306
19. Mark Aitchison (Kawasaki) 1'50.646
20. Maxime Berger (Ducati) 1'50.717
21. Roberto Rolfo (Kawasaki) 1'52.492
