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World Superbike
WSBK: Portimao QP Ticker
Carlos Checa set the pace in Friday's qualifying session at the 2011 Superbike World Championship finale at Portimao, Portugal.
Althea Racing Ducati's Carlos Checa (Photo: Althea Racing)
Althea Racing
The final round of the 2011 World Superbike Championship got underway today at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao. Team Althea Racing and rider Carlos Checa are already World Champions but come here to Portugal to finish the season in the best possible way. Davide Giugliano, Superstock 1000 champion with Althea, participates as a wildcard in this last SBK race of the year.
In this morning’s first free practice, and on an already hot track (40˚C), Althea’s pairing made a solid start to proceedings. After only a few laps Checa was in first position with a fast time of 1m44.6. Giugliano, taking part in a SBK race for the first time, took things one step at a time in this opening session, working hard with his technicians to refine the set up of his bike. In the final stages of the session, Carlos improved significantly on his best time, recording a 1m43.9 that placed him second at the end of play, just a fraction of a second from Rea, first. Only those two riders were able to lap in under 1m44. Giugliano, beginning to find confidence with the 1198, recorded a best of 1m45.0 towards the end of the session, closing in eleventh position.
During the afternoon, the riders were back on track for first qualifying in even higher temperatures (35˚C air, 45˚C track). Carlos went straight to the top of the timesheets while Davide lay tenth after his first exit. The young Italian rider continued to make good progress until a small crash (fortunately without consequences) caused him and his team to lose valuable time in the second half of the session. He therefore finished in eighteenth position with a best time of 1m45.4. In the final phase of the session Checa lowered his previous best by another half a second to close in first position with a best of 1m43.5, a tenth of a second quicker than Laverty, second.
Carlos Checa:
“We’ve worked well again today. Maybe it was a little harder than usual with regard to the tires because, in these conditions, it becomes difficult to manage them after only a few laps, but everyone will have the same problem this weekend. We were able to make the fastest time, finding a way to keep the tires stable for a few more laps and now we’re feeling more confident. I just want to relax this evening and be ready for tomorrow because I came to the track very tired after a very busy week.”
Davide Giugliano:
“Today is our first day and so I’d say it was very positive, both for me and for the experience I am gaining, and for the team that starts working together with the Superbike. We have tried a lot of things today and we’re confident that tomorrow we’ll be able to do better. Today I had a small crash unfortunately, and we lost a lot of time as a result, but these things happen. We still have tomorrow and I’m sure that during the day we will see what me and the team are really capable of doing. I think we are holding all the right cards and should be able to make two good races come Sunday.”
The final round of the 2011 World Superbike Championship got underway today at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao. Team Althea Racing and rider Carlos Checa are already World Champions but come here to Portugal to finish the season in the best possible way. Davide Giugliano, Superstock 1000 champion with Althea, participates as a wildcard in this last SBK race of the year.
In this morning’s first free practice, and on an already hot track (40˚C), Althea’s pairing made a solid start to proceedings. After only a few laps Checa was in first position with a fast time of 1m44.6. Giugliano, taking part in a SBK race for the first time, took things one step at a time in this opening session, working hard with his technicians to refine the set up of his bike. In the final stages of the session, Carlos improved significantly on his best time, recording a 1m43.9 that placed him second at the end of play, just a fraction of a second from Rea, first. Only those two riders were able to lap in under 1m44. Giugliano, beginning to find confidence with the 1198, recorded a best of 1m45.0 towards the end of the session, closing in eleventh position.
During the afternoon, the riders were back on track for first qualifying in even higher temperatures (35˚C air, 45˚C track). Carlos went straight to the top of the timesheets while Davide lay tenth after his first exit. The young Italian rider continued to make good progress until a small crash (fortunately without consequences) caused him and his team to lose valuable time in the second half of the session. He therefore finished in eighteenth position with a best time of 1m45.4. In the final phase of the session Checa lowered his previous best by another half a second to close in first position with a best of 1m43.5, a tenth of a second quicker than Laverty, second.
Carlos Checa:
“We’ve worked well again today. Maybe it was a little harder than usual with regard to the tires because, in these conditions, it becomes difficult to manage them after only a few laps, but everyone will have the same problem this weekend. We were able to make the fastest time, finding a way to keep the tires stable for a few more laps and now we’re feeling more confident. I just want to relax this evening and be ready for tomorrow because I came to the track very tired after a very busy week.”
Davide Giugliano:
“Today is our first day and so I’d say it was very positive, both for me and for the experience I am gaining, and for the team that starts working together with the Superbike. We have tried a lot of things today and we’re confident that tomorrow we’ll be able to do better. Today I had a small crash unfortunately, and we lost a lot of time as a result, but these things happen. We still have tomorrow and I’m sure that during the day we will see what me and the team are really capable of doing. I think we are holding all the right cards and should be able to make two good races come Sunday.”
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