Checa & Biaggi within 13/1000!

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The race will almost certainly be a duel between those two: Carlos Checa and Max Biaggi. The two veterans have a superior pace to the rest of the field, and despite the impressive performance of the new Pirelli qualifying tires, they were the only riders to lap below Regis Laconi's former track record.

The first row will be completed by Sylvain Guintoli and Leon Haslam, while Marco Melandri will start from row two.

SUPERPOLE 1 - They returned to the old format of sixteen riders participating, and after fourteen minutes the fastest lap was set by Carlos Checa (1'31"237), followed by Max Biaggi, Sylvain Guintoli, Leon Haslam and Eugene Laverty, all under 1'32".

Excluded from the next phase were Joan Lascorz, Nori Haga, James Toseland and Ruben Xaus, meaning they will start from row 4.

SUPERPOLE 2 - Twelve minutes decided the eight riders who would advance to the last round, with crashes from Jonathan Rea and Jakub Smrz, making the session action packed. And while Smrz was able to remount and eventually go sixth fastest, Rea couldn't do the same and was eliminated. Also being bumped were Josh Waters on the Suzuki-Yoshimura, Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) and Michel Fabrizio. The best lap again went to Carlos Checa (1'31"150), from Biaggi, Guintoli and Haslam.

SUPERPOLE 3 - The final session (ten minutes in length) included three Ducatis, two bikes each from Yamaha and BMW, and one Aprilia. It started with Max Biaggi immediately setting a new track record (1'30"895), to which Carlos Checa immediately responded (1'30"882). The other riders seemed incapable of matching this pace, with Sylvain Guintoli and Leon Haslam coming closest. Marco Melandri did fairly well in his first Superpole performance, finishing eighth fastest for a second row start.

WSBK SUPERPOLE RESULTS:


1 7 Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'30.882
2 1 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'30.895
3 50 Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'31.293
4 91 Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 1'31.429
5 58 Laverty E. (IRL) Yamaha YZF R1 1'31.858
6 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'31.980
7 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.182
8 33 Melandri M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'32.662
9 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'32.153
10 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'32.204
11 12 Waters J. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'32.240
12 4 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.708
13 17 Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'32.346
14 41 Haga N. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'32.391
15 52 Toseland J. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.547
16 111 Xaus R. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.788
17 2 Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'32.847
18 67 Staring B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'32.883
19 121 Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'33.079
20 86 Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1'33.161
21 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'33.286
22 8 Aitchison M. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'33.413