Ducati Blog

Possibly banking on his double win at Salt Lake City two weeks ago, Checa starts the Misano weekend with a strong Friday. Getting the top spots in all sessions, free practice and timed, the Spaniard posted consistent lap times well within the 1:36-1:37 range. Rival podium contender Biaggi (Aprilia) also posted consistent laps, being behind Checa (second) on all sessions.

Carlos Checa

“We’ve made a good start today and we maintain the speed and rhythm of previous events; I feel I am able to ride the bike more or less at the limit. We had good feeling with the bike at Miller and also have useful information from the testing we did here at Misano a month ago so those factors have surely helped us here today. We saw some positive results during testing and those have given us a good base. Today it was important to test the tyres on the dry track as tomorrow rain is forecast and we need to know how the tyres behave in all conditions. We perhaps had a small advantage today but we know that Biaggi and Melandri will be there on Sunday and the races will be tough. Anything could happen come Sunday but the important thing is that we know we are competitive.”

Coming in to Misano, Checa (195) enjoys a 61-point lead over Yamaha’s Marco Melandri (134).

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5. Superb win for Stoner in Qatar Monday night race