Checa scores third Superpole of 2011

Added on Saturday, April 16th, 2011 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments

Carlos Checa scored his third Superpole win in as many races at Assen this afternoon, to start this weekend’s World Superbike races from the front of the grid.

As the third round of the season revs up, the Althea Racing ace again controlled the pace, stealing pole position as the cequered flag fell. A fastest time of 1m35.292 seconds gave him the advantage, with Jakub Smrz slotting into second.

The third slot on the grid went the way of Eugene Laverty, whilst Noriyuki Haga returned to form with a fourth place start, also completing the front row of the grid.

The second row will be headed by Jonathan Rea, just ahead of Max Biaggi and Tom Sykes. Marco Melandri missed out on a pole position start after crashing in the closing stages of the final Superpole session, however still managed to set the eighth fastest time.

Leon Camier and Troy Corser complete the top ten, as Joan Lascorz just missed out in eleventh place. There are twenty-one riders set to take the start of tomorrow’s first race, with two races ready to etrtain the crowds.

Checa will be looking to continue his already impressive start to the 2011 season, but he has some tough competition right on his tail.

Pos Rider Nat Team Time

1 C. CHECA ESP Althea Racing Ducati 1’35.292

2 J. SMRZ CZE Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing Ducati 1098R 1’35.560

3 E. LAVERTY IRL Yamaha World Superbike Team Yamaha YZF R1 1’35.580

4 N. HAGA JPN PATA Racing Team Aprilia Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’35.920

5 J. REA GBR Castrol Honda Honda CBR1000RR 1’36.138

6 M. BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’36.302

7 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’36.351

8 M. MELANDRI ITA Yamaha World Superbike Team Yamaha YZF R1 1’37.036

9 L. CAMIER GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’35.903

10 T. CORSER AUS BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 1’35.954