2011 World Sueprbike
From the time the 2011 World Superbike grid got onto the Misano Circuit in San Marino Friday, two riders were in a heated battle for the top slot: current WSBK leader Carlos Checa and reigning WSBK Champion Max Biaggi.
The two WSBK riders battled in the first free practice session, with Checa taking the top time. This battle continued in Q1, and in the end, it would again be the Althea Ducati rider taking the top honors.
Checa grabbed the provisional pole after taking the first qualifying practice with a 1:36.024, which was about a half-second quicker than Cal Crutchlow’s lap record set last year.
But the Spaniard didn’t beat Biaggi by much…Checa was a tenth of a second quicker than Max Biaggi on the Alitalia Aprilia.
In Q1, the two were battling tightly, but Biaggi’s efforts were slowed by a crash from Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad S1000RR) in the final stages of the session. During the crash, Corser injured his neck and right hip. He was taken the Clinica Mobile for X-rays and a check-up, and nothing was broken. Due to the severity of the WSBK crash, though, Corser will undergo further checks tomorrow morning before a decision will be made as to whether or not he will race.
Following the Italian Biaggi were two of his countrymen, Marco Melandri and Michel Fabrizio. Riding the Yamaha Factory Racing YZF-R1, Melandri would beat the sole Suzuki GSX-R1000 rider Fabrizio to the line by a tenth of a second.
Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati 1198R) says: "We’ve made a good start today and we maintain the speed and rhythm of previous events; I feel I am able to ride the bike more or less at the limit. We had good feeling with the bike at Miller and also have useful information from the testing we did here at Misano a month ago so those factors have surely helped us here today. We saw some positive results during testing and those have given us a good base.
"Today it was important to test the tyres on the dry track as tomorrow rain is forecast and we need to know how the tyres behave in all conditions. We perhaps had a small advantage today but we know that Biaggi and Melandri will be there on Sunday and the races will be tough. Anything could happen come Sunday but the important thing is that we know we are competitive."
2011 Misano World Superbike: Qualifying 1 Results
- C. Checa / Ducati 1198R / 1’36.024
- M. Biaggi / Aprilia RSV4 / 1’36.149
- M. Melandri / Yamaha YZF-R1 / 1’36.482
- M. Fabrizio / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / 1’36.546
- T. Corser / BMW S1000RR / 1’36.656
- E. Laverty / Yamaha YZF-R1 / 1’36.683
- J. Smrz / Ducati 1198R / 1’36.713
- N. Haga / Aprilia RSV4 / 1’36.728
- S. Guintoli / Ducati 1198R / 1’36.753
- T. Sykes / Kawasaki ZX-10R/ 1’36.793