Checa quickest in FP1

The 25th year of World Superbike got under way this morning with free practice at Phillip Island and reigning champion Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) was right on the pace with quickest time of 1 minute 31.973 seconds. The Spaniard was the only rider under the 1m32s barrier, and he finished a couple of tenths ahead of Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) 1'32"161. The opening session of the season confirmed the outcome of the pre-season testing, with Czech rider Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) ahead of Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) who crashed out at Honda, but the British rider concluded the session.

Jonathan Rea was next up for the Honda World Superbike Team, with Frenchman Maxime Berger and Sylvain Guintoli making it three of the Czech team's riders in the top 7. There were some problems for Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad), who could only manage eleventh place, a couple ahead of SBK rookie Chaz Davies (ParkinGO Aprilia). Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing) was on track despite a broken bone in his right hand picked up during testing, the Irishman setting 22nd fastest time, while Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad) followed the session from his pit garage.