Works Yamaha rider Marco Melandri stayed at the top of the World Superbike test timesheets at Misano today, lapping at 1'35.8s but runaway championship leader Checa was right on his tail as was team-mate Eugene Laverty.

The Italian's lap was faster than Checa's test best set on soft tyres back in May but behind the circuit best of 1'35.001 set by Troy Corser in 2010. Laverty and Melandri were both on electronics testing duty. Checa, meanwhile, was focusing on tyre testing as Pirelli brought 2012-spec tyres.

BMW Italia's Ayrton Badovini was fourth fastest despite a crash with Joan Lascorz posting the exact same time on the PBM Kawasaki. Tom Sykes, on the second works ZX-10R was next along whole Jonathan Rea took the Castrol Honda to seventh on a 1'36.7s. BMW and Aprilia continued with test riders Steve Martin and Alex Hofmann who were both faster than Toni Elias…

Overall unofficial test times:

1. Marco Melandri (Works Yamaha) 1'35.8

2. Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) 1'36.0

3. Eugene Laverty (Works Yamaha) 1'36.0

4. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Italia) 1'36.1

5. Joan Lascorz (PBM Kawasaki) 1'36.1

6. Tom Sykes (PBM Kawasaki) 1'36.2

7. Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) 1'36.7

8. Alex Hofmann (Alitalia Aprilia) 1'36.9

9. Steve Martin (BMW Motorrad) 1'37.1

10. Ruben Xaus (Castrol Honda) 1'37.4

11. Toni Elias (BMW Italia) 1'37.8

12. Chris Vermeulen (PBM Kawasaki) 1'38.4

13. Makoto Tamada (Castrol Honda) 1'38.8