Carlos Checa has vaulted up the timesheets on day two of the World Superbike official testing at Phillip Island.
The Spaniard finished with the fastest time on his Ducati, ahead of Italian BMW rider Marci Melandri and Briton Leon Camier on a Suzuki.
Checa, a four-time WSBK race winner at Phillip Island over the past three years, set a best lap of 1m31.059s on his new Panigale 1199RS to prove that he’ll be ready to circulate at the front of the pack.
The 2013 title commences at the recently resurfaced 4.445km grand prix circuit from Friday through Sunday.
Based on the sizzling times set over the past two days on the new track, this Phillip Island WSBK round is shaping up to be the fastest on record.
The current lap record of 1:31.785 of Max Biaggi (2012) appears certain to be dismantled in Sunday’s pair of 22-lap races.
Melandri wasn’t far behind Checa with a 1:31.237, while Camier (1:31.243), Kawasaki’s world No.2 Tom Sykes (1:31.261) and impressive privateer Michel Fabrizio (Aprilia, 1:31.350) have also taken to the resurfaced Phillip Island track.
There was less than one second between the top 12 riders over the two days, with title heavyweights such as Jonathan Rea (Honda), Eugene Laverty (Aprilia), Leon Haslam (Honda) and Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia) all producing times which will ensure they also give Sunday’s races a big shake.
Australia’s wild card, Sydney’s Glenn Allerton (BMW) was 13th fastest in the test, going nearly two seconds faster on day two to stop the clock at 1:32.159; while Melbourne’s Jamie Stauffer (Honda, 1:32.231) was right behind in 14th.