Laverty beats the clock in WSBK Qualifying 1
A close battle characterised the first qualifying session for the eni FIM Superbike World Championship at MotorLand Aragon, and saw Irishman Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) topping the timesheets with a 1'58.548 set with few minutes to go. The Championship Leader was 0.104 s faster than 2nd place Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet), with Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Davies' team mate, Marco Melandri, to follow.
Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) rode his CBR 1000 RR up to 5th position ahead of Phillip Island Race 1 winner Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) and the unfortunate Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki), who had a high-side at Turn 10 early in the session and was transferred first to the Medical Centre, where he was diagnosed with a left knee dislocation and a wound, then taken to the Alcaniz hospital, where he's undergoing further examination. His participation to the rest of the round is seriously doubtful.
On the other hand, Jules Cluzel bettered his morning's performance and finished 8th, with Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia) to complete the top-10. A bit of a step back for Spaniard Carlos Checa (Team Ducati Alstare), who was 12th behind Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike Team).
