The 2011 World Superbike season has finally kicked off and Althea Ducati’s Carlo Checa was once again on top of the timesheets at Phillip Island, leading both FP1 and QP1 today.
The Spaniard continued his domination of the Australian circuit, just as he did during during this week’s earlier pre-season test, making him by sheer speed the man to beat in this opening round.
Checa, despite an early crash led the field in FP1 with a best lap of 1’31.
647, leaving his closest rival Jonathan Rea,who had a big off during the last test, in second and adrift more than six tenths of a second.
During QP1, the situation slightly changed, with Checa still leading, shaving off almost another tenth of second from his earlier lap time, with only Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati Effenbert Liberty Racing) and Superbike rookie Eugene Laverty breaking being able to close the gap and break the 1.
32 mark.
The rest of the field continued with Max Biaggi in fourth followed by Jakub Smrz, Leon Haslam, who finally cracked the top ten with his BMW, Michel Fabrizio, who crashed out at the Honda corner and all four were covered by less than 0,099 seconds.
Kawasaki’s recovering rider Joan Lascorz was eighth, followed by Jonathan Rea who slipped back into ninth after his earlier crash in FP1, and closing out the top ten was Yoshimura Suzuki’s wildcard rider and former Superbike champion Josh Waters who edged out Troy Corser for the spot.
WSBK Phillip Island – FP1 Results:01- Carlos Checa – Althea Racing – Ducati 1198 – 1’31.
64702- Jonathan Rea – Castrol Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 0.
62503- Joan Lascorz – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 0.
70504- Leon Haslam – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 0.
71305- Sylvain Guintoli – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.
75106- Max Biaggi – Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 0.
78107- Jakub Smrz – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.
79708- Marco Melandri – Yamaha World Superbike Team – Yamaha YZF R1 – + 0.
86009- Michel Fabrizio – Team Suzuki Alstare – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 0.
96410- Eugene Laverty – Yamaha World Superbike Team – Yamaha YZF R1 – + 1.
00911- Tom Sykes – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 1.
38612- Noriyuki Haga – Pata Racing Team Aprilia – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 1.
46613- Ruben Xaus – Castrol Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 1.
54714- Ayrton Badovini – BMW Motorrad Italia – BMW S1000RR – + 1.
58215- James Toseland – BMW Motorrad Italia – BMW S1000RR – + 1.
79416- Josh Waters – Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Team – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 1.
79917- Maxime Berger – Supersonic Racing Team – Ducati 1198 – + 1.
82718- Leon Camier – Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 2.
06219- Mark Aitchison – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 2.
36720- Roberto Rolfo – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 2.
44821- Bryan Staring – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 2.
74422- Troy Corser – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 3.
266WSBK Phillip Island – QP1 Results:01- Carlos Checa – Althea Racing – Ducati 1198 – 1’31.
57702- Sylvain Guintoli – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.
27303- Eugene Laverty – Yamaha World Superbike Team – Yamaha YZF R1 – + 0.
39204- Max Biaggi – Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 0.
43205- Jakub Smrz – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.
48906- Leon Haslam – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 0.
50507- Michel Fabrizio – Team Suzuki Alstare – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 0.
53108- Joan Lascorz – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 0.
58609- Jonathan Rea – Castrol Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 0.
84710- Josh Waters – Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Team – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 1.
11311- Troy Corser – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 1.
12212- Marco Melandri – Yamaha World Superbike Team – Yamaha YZF R1 – + 1.
12313- Tom Sykes – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 1.
12814- Noriyuki Haga – Pata Racing Team Aprilia – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 1.
48115- James Toseland – BMW Motorrad Italia – BMW S1000RR – + 1.
49716- Leon Camier – Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 1.
50717- Bryan Staring – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 1.
55318- Maxime Berger – Supersonic Racing Team – Ducati 1198 – + 1.
59919- Ruben Xaus – Castrol Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 1.
83420- Ayrton Badovini – BMW Motorrad Italia – BMW S1000RR – + 2.
02121- Mark Aitchison – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 2.
21122- Roberto Rolfo – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 2.
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