World Superbike

Checa Overcomes Crash to Qualify on Front Row

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Carlos Checa overcame a crash in the first part of the Superpole session to qualify second for tomorrow's World Superbike races at Misano.

The championship leader was lucky to make it through Superpole 1 after sliding off the track early in the session. Luckily, the Ducati 1098R was undamaged and he was able to rejoin the session and secure eighth place.

Progress was much more straightforward in Superpole 2 as the Spaniard set the pace but he was denied pole position in the final session by the Kawasaki of Tom Sykes, who went 0.276s quicker.

Checa was relieved that his early slip-up didn't prove too costly and with his chief rivals Marco Melandri and Max Biaggi starting fourth and seventh, he will be looking to extend his 61 point lead in the standings.

“The start of Superpole didn't go well for me; I crashed almost immediately in the wet but was lucky to not damage the bike. I was able to rejoin without changing bikes but after the crash I took it a little easier, getting to grips with the conditions before starting to push. I was able to gradually build feeling and the strong set-up of the bike allowed me to stay ahead with the fastest guys.”

“To take a place on the front row in conditions like these is great for us as, after a dry weekend, we didn't have any references for wet conditions and the track was really very slippery. My compliments go to Sykes and we'll wait to see what conditions we face tomorrow; I am feeling confident.”

Checa was the fastest man of all in the dry qualifying practice session that preceded Superpole and will surely be the man to beat if race day proves to be dry.

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