Checa chases American dream with pole
Added on Sunday, May 30th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Checa dominates Superpole
Carlos Checa was the Superpole winner at the Miller Motorsports Park today, dominating each session during the Superpole hour.
Despite Jakub Smrz and Max Biaggi being the men to watch early on in the weekend, it was the Spanish veteran who topped the times when it really mattered with a new track record, to add his second career pole position to his already impressive list if achievements.
Smrz had recorded the quickest time yesterday (Saturday) during qualifying practice one, whilst Biaggi dominated qualifying practice two today with a blinding initial new lap record, setting the fastest time around the Salt Lake City venue.
Biaggi manage to break the top times in the 1:48 second time frame earlier today, however as the Superpole session was drawing to a close, Checa put in a storming lap to break the 1:47 time, setting a time of 1:47.081.
Superpole one got off to a tricky start when Brit Tom Sykes was thrown from his Kawasaki machine at the notorious Black Rock Hairpin, immediately forcing him out of the session. From here the session calmed down, with Checa stealing the limelight at the top of the times.
With sixteen riders going through to Superpole two all eyes were on the top names, to see who would prove dominant this time around. The session began in much the same way as the previous one, except this time it was BMW Motorrad Motorsport rider Troy Corser who fell foul of an incident, falling from his bike in the opening stages. Luckily he was able to get back to the pits, where a spare bike awaited him to rejoin the session.
Sylvain Guintoli set the early pace in this second outing, however as with the first Checa made his mark on the field early on, holding station at the top of the times for the duration.
After slipping down the order throughout the session, Leon Camier pulled a blinding lap out of the bag in the closing stages to go through to Superpole three. Fellow Brit Jonathan Rea also made it through, whereas James Toseland was pushed down the order, leaving the Sterilgarda Yamaha rider fourteenth.
After a reasonably quiet final Superpole outing, Rea crashed off of his Hannspree Ten Kate Honda machine, shortly followed by Smrz. Both appeared to be uninjured, however as a result the red flag was thrown out with less than five minutes of the session remaining.
As the final minutes of Superpole began, Checa remained in the garage, seemingly confident his time would be enough to secure pole position. The remaining riders fought it out for the best possible spot on the front two rows of the grid. As the chequered flag signalled the end of the session, Checa’s storming time earned him pole, Biaggi will start the first race of the day tomorrow alongside him in second, with Cal Crutchlow beside him in third.
Despite his crash, Smrz still managed to set the fourth fastest time, whilst championship leader Leon Haslam backed off on his final tour to settle for a fifth place start. Noriyuki Haga, who narrowly skipped through to Superpole three will start sixth, with Rea and Camier completing the second row of the grid in seventh and eighth.
Ruben Xaus just missed out on the final session, meaning he will start tomorrow’s first race from ninth, with Michel Fabrizio hoping for more in tenth place. Brit Shame Byrne recorded the eleventh fastest time, while Corser will start fifteenth after his earlier incident.
With it’s three miles of interesting and challenging corners, the Miller Motorsports Park is set to showcase two thrilling races tomorrow, and everyone is geared up for them. Haslam will be hoping to retain his championship lead, but no doubt Biaggi will be eager to stop him.
Miller Motorsports Park, WSB, Qualifying:
Pos Rider Nat Team Time
1 Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1′47.081�
2 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′47.414�
3 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′47.648�
4 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1′47.662�
5 Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′48.006�
6 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1′48.035�
7 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′48.378�
8 Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′48.621�
9 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1′48.141�
10 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′48.154�
11 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1′48.159�
12 Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′48.162�
13 Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′48.274�
14 Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′48.640�
15 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1′48.706�
16 Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 1′48.964�
17 Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′49.635�
18 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′50.135�
19 Parkes B. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 1′50.479�
20 Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′50.596�
21 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′52.691
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