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Checa sets the pace in Brno qualifying

Friday, 8 July 2011 15:02 GMT
Checa sets the pace in Brno qualifying
Two Ducatis led the way in this afternoon's first qualifying session for the Czech Republic Round at Brno, the quickest being the Althea Racing machine of points leader Carlos Checa. The Spaniard's time of 1 minute 59.322 seconds was a couple of tenths quicker than the one recorded by the next man, home favourite Jakub Smrz on the all-Czech Effenbert-Liberty Racing 1098R.


Another manufacturer pairing, this time from the Yamaha World Superbike Team, made up the provisional front row of the grid, Italian Marco Melandri just a fraction ahead of his team-mate Eugene Laverty. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team) was next up in fifth place, the Italian as always opting to dedicate Friday to obtaining the best set-up for his bike.


Tom Sykes had a good run to post sixth place on his Kawasaki Racing Team machine, with Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) right behind. Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki Alstare) completed the overnight second row, while the top 10 was completed by Sylvain Guintoli (Effenbert-Liberty Ducati) and Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team).


After participating in the morning's free practice session, the Italian's regular team-mate James Toseland preferred to sit things out for the rest of the weekend due to his still recovering wrist, and his place was again taken by Lorenzo Lanzi.