Carlos Checa continues to be in excellent form after securing the fastest lap in practice at Donington.
Althea
Ducati’s
Carlos Checa continued where he left off at Phillip Island by securing the quickest lap during the first World Superbike practice at Donington. With a time of 1'29.978 the Spaniard was the only rider under 1’30 and managed to squeeze ahead of Yamaha’s Marco Melandri by 0.156 seconds. Castrol
Honda’s
Jonathan Rea, who was heading the timesheet for much of the session, grabbed the third-best time just 0.050 seconds back of Melandri and 0.206 seconds adrift of Checa at the end of the hour-long session.
BMW Motorrad Motorsport’s Leon Haslam claimed fourth on the timesheets with a lap of 1'30.566.
Kawasaki’s Joan Lascorz tallied a strong start in Britain with the fifth-best time of the day more than a tenth behind Haslam. Meanwhile, Suzuki’s Michel Fabrizio charged into the top-six times aboard his GSX-R1000 but remained 0.811 seconds off Checa.
Defending champion
Max Biaggi could only muster the seventh-quickest lap of practice and was just 0.008 seconds behind Fabrizio. Italian Ayrton Badovini of BMW Motorrad Italia was eighth in the charts followed by Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes and Liberty Ducati’s Jakub Smrz.
BMW’s Troy Corser, Yamaha’s Eugene Laverty, Aprilia’s Leon Camier and PATA Aprilia's
Noriyuki Haga all failed to make it inside the top-10. Haga finished the session more than 1.4 seconds off the pace of the leader with Ducati’s Sylvain Guintoli 0.395 seconds further back. After missing the season opener to continue rehabilitation on his injured knee, Kawasaki’s Chris Vermeulen returned at Donington to post a lap that was more than 2.5 seconds off Checa's pace.
2011 World Superbike Donington Friday Practice Results:
1. Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1'29.978
Yamaha's Marco Melandri had his best lap crushed by Checa in the final minutes of the session and took second.
2. Marco Melandri (Yamaha) 1'30.134
3. Jonathan Rea (Honda) 1'30.184
4. Leon Haslam (BMW) 1'30.566
5. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki) 1'30.687
6. Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki) 1'30.789
7. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) 1'30.797
8. Ayrton Badovini (BMW) 1'30.827
9. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 1'30.842
10. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) 1'30.868
11. Troy Corser (BMW) 1'30.970
12. Eugene Laverty (Yamaha) 1'30.985
13. Leon Camier (Aprilia) 1'31.022
14. Ruben Xaus (Honda) 1'31.112
15. Max Berger (Ducati) 1'31.337
16. Noriyuki Haga (Aprilia) 1'31.387
