After the 2010 season, Ducati announced that it would not be participating in the World Superbike in 2011. But thanks to the private efforts of teams like the Effenbert / Liberty Racing team, Ducati could be on its way to a successful World Superbike outing. Jakub Smrz was the fastest around the track today, riding his Ducati to out-pace Jonathan Rea.
Rea was the fastest in the early morning session, but Smrz dropped his time by a half second in the afternoon to claim the top spot with a 1'43.503 lap. Smrz ended the morning session .05 seconds behind Rea, but ended the afternoon session .17 seconds ahead of the Castrol Honda rider.
Just like the morning session, the top spots in the afternoon were occupied by a wide range of manufacturers. Eugene Laverty was able to pull his Yamaha bike from the 14th spot that he had scored in the morning to the number three position behind Rea in the afternoon. Behind the Yamaha machine came Tom Sykes aboard his Kawasaki, followed by another Ducati ridden by Carlos Checa.
The 2010 champion Max Biaggi finished 6th, but was only three tenths off of Smrz pace. Michel Fabrizio, Sylvain Guintoli, and Leon Camier finished in 7th, 8th, and 9th, and were all within one second of Smrz.
The World Superbike riders will return to the track tomorrow, for the second of three days of testing.
