Flying Brits Leon Haslam and Tom Sykes chased reigning World Superbike Champion Carlos Checa for top spot in today's first offical test at the new Moscow circuit and finished only two tenths behind the veteran Spaniard but only a second covered the top 12 riders.
Checa set the unofficial lap record with a 1'35.891 despite being ten kph down on top speed along the track's monstrous straight. BMW's Haslam was 0.180s behind with Sykes' Kawasaki another 0.048s in arrears.
Haslam's soon-to-be-not team-mate Marco Melandri was fourth and a little over four-tenths off the pace while 2012 title rival Max Biaggi is only a tenth behind, so Friday practice is one to watch between the two Italians.
Parkingo Aprilia's Chaz Davies has shown he is a fast learner, posting the sixth-fastest time, staying ahead of Checa's team-mate Davide Guigliano. Eugene Laverty shared the top-speed spoils with Biaggi at 196mph on his way to eighth place.
Nico Canepa bounced back from an early crash to take ninth with Sylvain Guintoli rounding out the top ten. His Pata Ducati team-mate, Lorenzo Zanetti, is 11th with Honda's Jonthan Rea in 12th. Leon Camier is one place further back but only 1.1s off the pace while John Hopkins is 15th. Loris Baz didn't have a great introduction to the track, finishing down in 19th on the second factory ZX-10R.
