Carlos Checa started the weekend at Magny Cours at the front of the pack. The Althea Ducati rider narrowly beat out French rider Sylvain Guintoli and Eugene Laverty to take the top spot at the end of the first qualifying session.
Guintoli looked like he was going to top the first qualifying session in front of his home crowd, but both Checa and Laverty found their way past in the closing minutes. Checa ended the day with a 1.38'652 lap time, beating out Laverty by .01 seconds and Guintoli .09 seconds.
The entire World Superbike grid put in quick times around the French Circuit. The top 16 riders placed within one second of Checa's pace and the slowest rider today was just 1.3 seconds behind the Ducati rider.
World Superbike Qualifying Results
- Carlos Checa
- Eugene Laverty
- Sylvain Guintoli
- Tom Sykes
- Jakub Smrz
- Jonathan Rea
- Leon Haslam
- Noriyuki Haga
- Troy Corser
- Joan Lascorz
