World Superbike champion Carlos Checa is nervously waiting to see how an extra weight penalty will affect his Ducati in this year’s series which gets underway at Phillip Island on Friday.

Because of the dominance of the Ducatis last year, the bikes will be forced to carry an extra six kilograms in a bid to bring parity to the championship.

Checa is concerned that the handicap will affect his outright speed and endurance.

The Spaniard’s pre-season form has still been sparkling although Kawasaki’s rapidly improving British rider Tom Sykes managed to outpace him during testing earlier this week.

“At the moment, we have only put 5kg on the bike, and we will have to put on 1kg more before we start practice tomorrow,” Checa said.

“We have changed the bike around to accommodate the extra weight, but it’s difficult to say what impact it has had.

“But we produced a good pre-season plan and stuck to it. We are satisfied with our progress and are ready for Sunday’s races.”

Checa has won the past three races at Phillip Island, a record he shares with Australian Anthony Gobert.

A resurgent Kawasaki are chasing their first Phillip Island win on Sunday, with in-form Sykes their big hope.

Sykes said Kawasaki have done a lot of work over the off-season, and the ZX-10R is working well.

“The Phillip Island circuit certainly isn’t my strong point so, to be where we are, is quite pleasing,” said Sykes.

“My best result at Phillip Island in the past has been about eighth, so I certainly hope to improve on that this weekend. If I maintain consistent lap times, the results will come.”

British riders have been regular race winners at Phillip Island over the years, including Carl Fogarty and the recently-retired James Toseland.

Other marquee names in Sunday’s two 22-lap races will include Italian former world champion Max Biaggi, Briton Jonathan Rea (Honda) and Italy’s Marco Melandri (BMW), who were all slick in testing.

Big names Leon Haslam (BMW) and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) are both under injury clouds with wrist and leg problems respectively, but will try to saddle up for the opening practice and qualifying sessions on Friday.

Four Australians – Josh Brookes (Suzuki), BMW pair David Johnson and Mark Aitchison, and Kawasaki’s Bryan Staring – will compete in the 25-rider field.

Staring was the fastest of the quartet in testing, but Brookes is the one who probably has the most improvement left after answering a late call-up to replace American John Hopkins.