It was a hot and a electrifying World Superbike first qualifying practice this afternoon at Magny Cours and it was a super tight session that saw Carlos Checa once again top the timesheets with a best lap of 1.
39.
651, followed by Yamaha’s Eugene Laverty adrift by a mere 0.
012s and home boy Sylvain Guintoli in third, just 0.
089s from his fellow Ducati rider.
Tom Sykes had another strong session finishing in fourth after heading the timesheets in the final minutes whileGuintoli’s teammate grabbed the fifth best time.
Jonathan Rea made a big jump forward to take sixth.
While BMW’s Leon Haslam and Troy Corser were 7th and 9th respectively, with Noriyuki Haga in the middle of the two , outpacing factory Aprilia rider Leon Camier, who could manage only a lowly 16th.
Joan Lascorz rounded out the top ten, while World Superbike rookies Maxime Berger and Mark Aitchison with their 11th and 12th, got the better not only of Camier, but also of high profile Italian riders like Marco Melandri and Michel Fabrizio who were only 14th and 15th.
After this morning’s crash, Castrol Honda’s Ruben Xaus was advised to sit out the session, his taking part in tomorrow’s sessions are pending on his physical condition.
WSBK Magny Cours QP1 results:1.
Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1′38.
6522.
Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike Team) Yamaha YZF R1 1′38.
6643.
Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1′38.
7414.
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′38.
8605.
Jakub Smrz (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1′38.
9426.
Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) Honda CBR1000RR 1′38.
9577.
Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1′38.
9778.
Noriyuki Haga (PATA Racing Team Aprilia) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′39.
0199.
Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1′39.
02510.
Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′39.
06311.
Maxime Berger (Supersonic Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 1′39.
19612.
Mark Aitchison (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′39.
22013.
Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team) BMW S1000 RR 1′39.
30914.
Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team) Yamaha YZF R1 1′39.
33315.
Michel Fabrizio (Team Suzuki Alstare) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′39.
50416.
Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′39.
58717.
Javier Fores (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team) BMW S1000 RR 1′39.
70518.
Roberto Rolfo (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′39.
982