Spanish Ducati rider Carlos Checa continues to shine with Superpole at Assen.

Spanish World Superbike title leader Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) secured his third pole in three race meetings with a 1:35.292 lap in the final Superpole session at Assen in the Netherlands on Saturday.

Checa led home Jakub Smrz (Effenbert – Liberty Racing Ducati) and Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike Team).

Checa had been only ninth in combined qualifying, even through the times were tight through the field, but left his best for last again and took pole by 0.268 seconds from Smrz.

The final place on the front row for Sunday’s races was taken by Noriyuki Haga (Pata Racing Team Aprilia) meaning that three privateer riders earned places on row one.

“We were struggling a little in Superpole 1 because we used a race tyre,” Checa reflected. “We expected to be inside but it was crazy with a few riders in a few tenths of a second and you can be in or out just like that.

“Then we worked well with the qualifying tyre, in session two and especially the last one where I did a really good lap without any mistakes. It’s a great satisfaction for me but honestly it was quite hard!”

Smrz has been on the pace all weekend and he was content with second on the grid for Sunday’s races.

“I wanted the pole today but I had some trouble with the tyres,” he said. “The bike was good, but Carlos was very fast today. It’s good to be on the front two, the team and everyone did good work.

“I learnt that I was only 12th after Superpole 1 because I didn’t see the lap times, so I was lucky in the first one.

“Then I started pushing in the second session, but here it’s always very close and it’s never easy.”

Rookie star Laverty was surprised with his performance, happy to get on the front row.

“It was an eventful session, we used the qualifiers up during the Superpole so in the end I had to use a softer race tyre, I surprised myself with the lap time when I saw it on the dash,” he said.

“That was great! I knew it was going to be enough for the front row, but it was tough. I could do times like that for a couple of laps but we’ve got some work to do for the races to make the bike more stable.”

Last year’s double winner Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) went fifth fastest, and world champion Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) was sixth.

Top Kawasaki rider was Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike) but Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team) lost his chance of pole by crashing in the final minutes and he now starts the races from the back of row two.

Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) and Australia’s Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) just missed out on the final period of Superpole qualifying but made it into the top 10.

Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team) went 11th after an incredibly close second Superpole session, but Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) could not make the most of his qualifying tyres and went from a Superpole contender to 12th.

Queenslander Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki) was 18th, with Mark Aitchison (Pedercini Kawasaki) rounding out the grid for Sunday’s races.

Competition has been so close at Assen that the top 15 riders were within one second after combined qualifying, and all 21 riders were grouped within 1.759 seconds pre-Superpole.

World Supersport championship leader Luca Scassa (Yamaha ParkinGO Team) set the pole time in the Supersport class with a 1:38.008 lap, his second such pre-race performance this year.

Close behind was Sam Lowes (Parkalgar Honda) with the rest of the top riders a little way back and led by Broc Parkes (Kawasaki Motocard.com). The last rider on the front row was Fabien Foret (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda).

New young star in this class and Foret’s team-mate Florian Marino, was fifth in the grid rankings and Chaz Davies was sixth for the Yamaha ParkinGO team.

Spanish competitor David Salom (Kawasaki Motocard.com) and Italian Roberto Tamburini (Bike Service RT Yamaha) closed out the second row, with 30 riders qualifying in total.

Seasoned privateers Robbin Harms (Harms Benjan Racing) and Massimo Roccoli (Lorenzini by Leoni) rounded out the top 10.

In the Superstock 1000 class, Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad Italia STK) pushed his way to the front of the qualifying pack at Assen, ahead of three Italian riders.

David Giugliano (Althea Racing), Danilo Petrucci (Barni Racing Team) and Luca Baroni (Althea Racing), all on Ducati 1098Rs, filled the final front row places for Sunday’s race, with local man Roy Ten Napel (Domburg Racing Honda) the top Fireblade rider.

Next up was Andrea Antonelli (Team Lorini Honda) with the best Kawasaki rider so far proving to be South African favourite, Sheridan Morais (Lorenzini by Leoni). Morais was the last rider to qualify within a second of pole.

The first Superstock 600 race of the season was a thrilling three-rider fight all the way, with Michael van der Mark (Ten Kate Junior Honda) holding off a last chicane charge from Romain Lanusse (MRS Yamaha Racing France) and a race-long challenge from Aussie Jed Metcher (MTM-RT Motorsports Yamaha).

After 12-laps of intense competition the local 18-year-old rider enjoyed a margin of victory of 0.540 seconds from Lanusse, with Metcher almost snatching second place as an audacious move by Lanusse on van der Mark saw the Frenchman have to run wide and fight hard to keep second place.

The new European Junior Cup for youngsters on Kawasaki Ninja 250 machines also produced its first pole sitter today, Australian Matt Davies getting the top slot ahead of Germany’s Tom Busch and Spain’s Ruben Fenoll.

2011 Superbike World Championship
Round Three – Assen, Netherlands

Superbike Superpole:

Supersport Qualifying: