Checa Scorches Miller in First Qualifying Session
Under cloudy skies, the World Superbikes were out on track Saturday for the first practice and qualifying sessions of the fifth round of the championship, taking place this weekend at America’s Miller Motorsports Park just outside Salt Lake City. Checa, returning to the track where he scored the double in 2008, dominated both of today’s sessions and snatched provisional pole based on the results of the afternoon’s first qualifying session.
In temperate conditions (air 20 ̊C, track 34 ̊C), Carlos Checa got straight to work on board his 1198 in first practice. A technical problem forced him to return to the garage after just one lap but unfortunately his bike could not be returned until the end of the session, due to the fact that it came to a stop on the track’s infield. Carlos thus had only one bike available to him for the remainder of the session, though this didn’t affect his performance in any way. After just one exit consisting of five laps, the Althea rider was already up in first position. He made rapid progress, quickly lowering his times, and was the only rider to duck under 1m49 in this first session, registering a best of 1m48.914. Unfortunately a second technical issue in the final phase prevented him from improving further and forced him to conclude his session a few minutes early. He nonetheless closed the free practice in first place, six tenths of a second ahead of Camier (Aprilia) in second.
The morning’s problems resolved, Carlos took charge in the afternoon’s first qualifying session. Immediately on the pace, he was at the top of the timesheets from the very first laps. Finding good pace, the Spanish rider was able to further improve on this morning’s times, recording a best of 1m48.260 in the final stages. His times remained impressive until the session’s close and, with seven tenths of advantage over Camier in second place, Carlos secured provisional pole for Monday’s races.
Carlos Checa:- “We made a great start today despite this morning’s issues. I was able to find a good rhythm almost immediately and the feeling I have here this year with my bike seems to be slightly better than last year. As I said it’s gone quite well today but there is still work to do tomorrow. Results are never a given, also because this weekend it seems that the weather conditions will play an important part. I’m still very optimistic though and we’ll work to make further improvements during tomorrow’s sessions.”
TIMES (Qualifying 1): 1. Checa (Ducati) 1m48.2; 2. Camier (Aprilia) 1m49.0; 3. Biaggi (Aprilia) 1m49.3; 4. Sykes (Kawasaki) 1m49.4; 5. Corser (BMW) 1m49.5. 6. Rea (Honda) 1m49.6; 7. Smrz (Ducati) 1m49.6; 8. Laverty (Yamaha) 1m49.6
Source: Althea Racing
If you liked this post please consider becoming a Fan of Ducati News Today on Facebook and Following us on Twitter.
Want More?
Read More Posts on Carlos Checa
Read More Posts like this in our World Superbike category
Try These Related Posts:
