Carlos Checa was able to put his bike on the top of the time sheets today at Silverstone ahead of a surprising front row. Max Biaggi and Marco Melandri both finished off the provisional front row during the first qualifying session, while Maxime Berger, Tom Sykes, and Leon Camier enjoyed quick times at the British Circuit.
Checa put in a 2'05.477 laptime around the Silverstone circuit, beating out fellow Ducati rider Maxime Berger by .4 seconds. Checa was well ahead of the field during Q1, but the times started piling up behind Berger. The top 12 riders all finished within a second of the pacesetter.
Tom Sykes was the fastest Brit for the day, taking third ahead of Leon Camier.
American John Hopkins, who is riding as a wildcard this weekend, followed up his fast performance in free practice with a fifth place qualifying spot. Hopkins leads the provisional second row ahead of Michel Fabrizio, Jakub Smrz, and Eugene Laverty.
Max Biaggi took the ninth place spot, but the Aprilia rider is known to work on his setup during the first qualifying session. Biaggi should be right up at the top during the Superpole sessions tomorrow.
World Superbike - Qualifying Results - Silverstone
Checa - 2'05.477
Berger - 2'05.870
Sykes - 2'05.899
Camier - 2'05.937
Hopkins - 2'05.974
Fabrizio - 2'06.023
Smrz - 2'06.029
Laverty - 2'06.037
Biaggi - 2'06.044
Haslam - 2'06.116
