HANNspree Ten Kate Honda rider Carlos Checa made a fantastic recovery after struggling through the second day of qualifying and secured a third place on the grid after a blistering Superpole lap.
Issues with the electronics on his bike forced him to drop down from his provisional third place secured in QP1 to 12th in the second qualifying practice. Checa overcame the issues with his machine towards the end of the second free practice and superbly powered his Honda CBR1000RR to a front row start in Superpole qualifying.
Team mate Ryuichi Kiyonari pushed hard in his timed second practice and put his machine on 12th place on the grid for tomorrow’s race while HANNspree Ten Kate Honda jr. rider Kenan Sofuoglu will start from 20th.
Carlos Checa: “We struggled through the qualifying and couldn’t find enough grip. Finally I was able to improve on the qualifier in the second free practice session. When I went out on my Superpole lap my focus was sharp and concentrated hard on improving. When my mechanic told me my lap time I was happy to take more then a second off the fastest time. I am excited about the improvement and feel confident for tomorrow’s race.”
”I thought I would drop down the field with some fast riders still having to ride their lap. Haga was going to take pole but he made some mistakes. Max Neukirchner did a fantastic job on his lap on which I want to congratulate him. It will be good for him to start his home race from pole position. I thought Haga was going to take pole but he made some mistakes.”
Ryuichi Kiyonari: “The bike felt a lot better than it yesterday and I had a good feeling with the machine today. I also start to understand the circuit better. We tried a different setting this morning as I had to improve on my pace. We managed to improve on some points. We made some small adjustments to the suspension and the balance of the machine, but overall the set up is good.”
“I hope I can make a good star tomorrow. I did manage to overtake a lot of riders in the last riders, if I can do the same here I can fight with the top group.”
Kenan Sofuoglu:“I don’t have much to say about my 20th position. I haven’t been able to improve much on the time I set in the first qualifying. I improved just a second and I couldn’t qualify for Superpole.”
“I hope I can improve my pace tomorrow. If I have a good start and follow the fast riders I can hopefully bring some points back home.”
Results Superpole:1, M.Neukirchner 1'55.471
2, T. Bayliss 1'55.791
3, C.Checa 1'55.888
