Carlos Checa grabbed his 6th Superpole of the season at Imola with a fantastic record breaking lap time of 1.
47.
196, and amazingly he took the pole using hard race tires as he ran out of qualifying tires to assure his making into SP3.
Castrol Honda’s Jonathan Rea took second and he was a mere 0.
078s from the Althea rider.
Noriyuki Haga was another rider who showed and excellent feeling with the Italian circuit, taking third and bumpingTom Sykes from the position with his last flying lap.
Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes will complete the front row and he was less than three tenths from Checa.
Opening the second row will be Yamaha’s Eugene Laverty, while team mate and Checa’s closest rival, Marco Melandri didn’t make the cut to SP3, managing 9th, unable to use the qualifying tires to their fullest.
Leon Haslam also ran out of qualifiers for the final stint, but he managed a 6th spot with race tyres, while Ayrton Badovini was the best Italian on the grid with his 7th position.
Effenbert Liberty’s Sylvain Guintoli took 8th.
Leon Camier closed out the top ten for Aprilia, a little more than four tenths slower than Haga on Pata’s satellite Aprilia.
WSBK Imola starting grid:1.
Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1′47.
1962.
Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) Honda CBR1000RR 1′47.
2743.
Noriyuki Haga (PATA Racing Team Aprilia) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′47.
4424.
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′47.
4685.
Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike Team) Yamaha YZF R1 1′47.
9296.
Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1′48.
0817.
Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team) BMW S1000 RR 1′48.
2348.
Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1′48.
4169.
Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team) Yamaha YZF R1 1′47.
78110.
Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′47.
85811.
Michel Fabrizio (Team Suzuki Alstare) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′48.
12612.
Maxime Berger (Supersonic Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 1′48.
33413.
Jakub Smrz (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1′48.
74114.
Federico Sandi (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1′48.
81215.
Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1′48.
89416.
Alessandro Polita (Barni Racing Team S.
N.
C.
) Ducati 1098R 1′49.
09117.
Mark Aitchison (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′49.
15918.
Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′49.
18519.
Matteo Baiocco (Barni Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 1′49.
37820.
Ruben Xaus (Castrol Honda) Honda CBR1000RR 1′49.
59521.
Roberto Rolfo (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′49.
66822.
Javier Fores (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team) BMW S1000 RR 1′50.
888