Carlos Checa continued his march towards the World Superbike title by wrapping up his sixth pole position of the campaign with a dominant performance in this afternoon's qualifying session at Imola.
The Althea Ducati rider holds a 74-point lead over Yamaha's Marco Melandri, and with a potential 50 points available for a double win tomorrow, Checa could possibly win the title if results go in his favour.
The Spaniard managed a double win at this circuit last season, and put himself in the frame for a repeat tomorrow with a blistering new lap record of one minute 47.196 seconds, good enough to take top spot at the expense of Northern Ireland’s Jonathan Rea.
Castrol Honda rider Rea went quickest after yesterday's opening qualifying session but just fell short when it mattered most, losing out in the final Superpole session by just a tenth of a second.
"We were nearly there," said Rea. "I made a mistake on my first lap in Superpole three and, although I had another go, I'd used up most of the tyre by then.
"But it's so nice to be back here and, although Superpole is pretty minor compared to the races, we're in a good position, so I'm really looking forward to them."
Japanese rider Noriyuki Haga (PATA) took third place, while Tom Sykes claimed the final berth on the front row with fourth for Kawasaki.
Northern Ireland’s Irishman Eugene Laverty was fifth for Yamaha, ahead of Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport), Sylvain Guintoli (Effenbert-Liberty) and Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia).
Melandri, Checa's only realistic championship rival after Max Biaggi was forced to pull out of this weekend's races with a foot injury, failed to make it to the third and final Superpole session and will line up in ninth place.
