World Superbike champion Carlos Checa found himself in an unfamiliar spot as he lapped Phillip Island ahead of Sunday’s opening round.
The speedy Spaniard was surprised to spend much of his test session on Tuesday staring at the exhaust of British rider Tom Sykes.
Sykes’ Kawasaki upended Checa’s Ducati from top spot in the second day of official testing at the island circuit.
The 26-year-old Yorkshireman toppled Checa with a time of one 31.648 seconds on cooler tarmac early in the session.
The defending champion had been the pacesetter virtually since the start of last week’s private testing.
While he was forced to accept second, Checa followed very closely to be just 0.004 seconds off Sykes’ mark.
Also closer to the front was the Ducati of Czech racer Jakub Smrz, who whittled his time down to 1:31.800.
Fourth place went to Northern Irishman Jonathan Rea on a Honda. Rea crashed at the fast Lukey Heights section of the track but was unhurt.
The 2010 world champion, Italian Max Biaggi aboard an Aprilia, shaved a further tenth off his Monday time to stop the clock at 1:32.034.
Meanwhile England’s Leon Haslam, who crashed yesterday, has returned to hospital in his bid to be fit for the race weekend.
Doctors are deciding if and how to operate on his broken right leg.
The BMW rider was hoping a screw could be inserted in his tibia to enable him to race.
While Checa, Biaggi, Sykes and Italian World No.2 Marco Melandri will be jostling at the head of the grid, several Australians will be competing, including the highly fancied Josh Brookes on a Suzuki.
Brookes is a late replacement for injured American John Hopkins. He will be joined by BMW pair David Johnson and Mark Aitchison and Bryan Staring (Kawasaki).
Aitchison will be the only permanent fixture in the 2012 championship, which will be held over 14 rounds, including a stopover in Russia for the first time.
Checa, who swept aside his rivals with precision at Phillip Island in 2011, is favoured to win back-to-back rounds.
Checa and Haslam are the only riders in the field to have won World Superbike races at Phillip Island.
In the Supersport World Championship, 32 riders will vie for the title, including two Australians – Melbourne’s Jed Metcher, the 21-year-old who won the 2011 European 600 Superstock title, and Broc Parkes.
Metcher has been snapped up by a Russian-funded team and will run a Yamaha under the tutelage of ex-MotoGP star Jeremy McWilliams.
Newcastle’s experienced and talented Parkes returns to Ten Kate Honda, the team which took him to second place in the 2004 world title and has been a supersport power since the early 1990s.
