Free practice at the Automotodrom Brno kicked off under sunny skies and where Max Biaggi historically is the favoured rider to win at least one of the two races.
The Aprilia Alitalia rider will try to shorten Carlos Checa’s lead in the standings on the Czech circuit where the Ducati is supposedly lacking in power, however it was home boy Jakub Smrz on a Ducati that grabbed the top of the timesheets in a final lunge with a best time of 2.
00.
200.
The Czech rider was closely followed by the Roman Emperor, who notoriously is always further down on the charts in Friday’s opening free practices.
Marco Melandri was third in a very tight sessionFollowing in fourth Michel Fabrizio who had lead the session for a while before being demoted, with Sylvain Guintoli who got his MotoGP substitute ride yanked away was 5th, and Leon Camier, who may be loosing his Aprilia next season was sixth.
Carlos Checa managed seventh and almost 8 tenths adrift from his fellow Ducati rider, with Leon Haslam who is the center of this year’s silly season in eighth and the last rider to be within a second of Smrz.
Closing out the top ten were Tom Sykes and Eugene Laverty.
BSB rider Alex Lowes who is subbing for Jonathan Rea on the Castrol Honda finished in 19nd, while BMW Italia’s James Toseland made his return after missing the last two rounds managed 15 laps and was 18th, Chris Vermeulen crashed out on his first sighting lap and never returned to track.
This weekend’s grid will also see the return of Matteo Baiocco (Ducati Barni Racing) and wildcard Viktor Kispataki (Honda Prop-Tech).
WSBK Brno free practice results01- Jakub Smrz – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – 2’00.
20002- Max Biaggi – Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 0.
17103- Marco Melandri – Yamaha World Superbike Team – Yamaha YZF R1 – + 0.
31504- Michel Fabrizio – Team Suzuki Alstare – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 0.
32505- Sylvain Guintoli – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.
60806- Leon Camier – Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 0.
72207- Carlos Checa – Althea Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.
77708- Leon Haslam – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 1.
00009- Tom Sykes – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 1.
09610- Eugene Laverty – Yamaha World Superbike Team – Yamaha YZF R1 – + 1.
14811- Ruben Xaus – Castrol Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 1.
30412- Noriyuki Haga – Pata Racing Team Aprilia – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 1.
49913- Ayrton Badovini – BMW Motorrad Italia – BMW S1000RR – + 1.
50814- Joan Lascorz – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 1.
55015- Roberto Rolfo – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 1.
59516- Maxime Berger – Supersonic Racing Team – Ducati 1198 – + 1.
83417- Mark Aitchison – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 2.
25418- James Toseland – BMW Motorrad Italia – BMW S1000RR – + 2.
39919- Alex Lowes – Castrol Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 2.
75120- Matteo Baiocco – Barni Racing Team – Ducati 1198 – + 3.
24121- Viktor Kispataki – Prop-tech Ltd – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 4.
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