Carlos Checa tops the SBK Australia test

Rider Carlos Checa has finished the private Superbike World Championship test at Phillip Island Circuit as the best, being the fastest on this last day of testing at the Australian track before the official training next week. So our number 7 is fired up on his Ducati and for now things seem to be going well, setting a 1:31.8 as a reference time and using race tyres.

Although he has fallen short of the time he set in last season’s training sessions, 1:30.578 (perhaps those were with qualifying tyres), there are still the official sessions coming up soon, in which all teams and riders will give their all to reach the first race of the year with great strength and get off to a good start this 2012, and of course among them our three home riders, Carlos Checa, Joan Lascorz and David Salom.

Behind the 7, a green bike has once again moved into position, that of Tom Sykes , who has been very strong and close to the time of the 2011 World Superbike champion, so a good start for the Kawasaki Racing Team at the Australian track, setting a 1:31.9, just a tenth behind the time achieved by Checa on this very hot day at Phillip Island.

Third place went to Leon Haslam, who went out on track with qualifying tyres at the rear and ended up setting a 1:32.2, while behind him, closing the top 5, were Max Biaggi with his Aprilia in fourth place, and Joan Lascorz on his Kawa with a 1:32.4. The rider who seems to have the most trouble adapting to his new bike is Marco Melandri, although he will get there. For now the Italian has not managed to improve his times with the qualifying tyres and suffered a crash without consequences this morning, as he has not yet mastered acceleration and the front end with the BMW, but he will gradually improve. For now he is 11th with a 1:33.0.

Although crashes were once again the protagonists today, this test has undoubtedly been marked by many accidents and injuries. This time it was Eugene Laverty‘s turn, who suffered a serious crash at turn 1, causing a fracture of the third metacarpal of his left hand, and also took a very hard blow to the head that caused a concussion, so a bad day for the young rider. Initially it was said he would return to Europe to be examined by his trusted doctor, but in the end both he and the team have decided to stay in Australia, waiting for the arrival of his trusted specialist to assess the situation, and the possibility of taking part in the first round of the championship on 26 February is being considered.

The big news on track was Josh Brookes, the replacement for the injured John Hopkins at Crescent Fixi Suzuki, who, despite suffering a crash, managed to stop the clock at 1:34.5.

Now the time has come for the official training sessions at Phillip Island Circuit, so here we go.

Carlos Checa’s statements:

I felt better on this third day, although the crashes, interruptions and the heat prevented us from being better.

We have introduced some changes that we will use in the race; the conditions of the second day cannot be compared with those of this last one. We are satisfied to have completed the work programme, and although you always hope to improve your times, we are already close to our limit.

We have even had a jalabí on track; we didn’t need to go to the nature reserve because we have it right here.

Overall classification by times:

1. Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1:31.8
2. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 1:31.9
3. Leon Haslam (BMW) 1:32.2 (Q)
4. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) 1:32.3
5. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki) 1:32.4
6. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) 1:32.4
7. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) 1:32.5
8. Michel Fabrizio (BMW) 1:32.6 (Q)
9. Maxime Berger (Ducati) 1:32.9
10. Leon Camier (Suzuki) 1:33.1
11. Marco Melandri (BMW) 1:33.0
12. David Giugliano (Ducati) 1:33.5
13. Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati) 1:33.5
14. Ayrton Badovini (BMW) 1:33.6
15. David Johnson (BMW) 1:34.1 (spare engine)
16. Josh Brookes (Suzuki) 1:34.5
17. Lorenzo Zanetti (Ducati) 1:34.7
18. David Salom (Kawasaki) 1:34.9 (did not ride on Tuesday due to wrist pain)

Source | WorldSBK