Pata Honda rider Leon Haslam had to contend with second place in the first World Superbike free practice session of the day, as he was unable to catch up with Italian Red Devils Roma rider Michel Fabrizio. The Brit did put up a fight as he was less than a second behind the Italian. Fabrizio set a time of 1’31.218 with Haslam completing the session in 1’31.728.
But another Leon was in contention to win first place and that was Fixi Crescent Suzuki’s Leon Camier who crossed the line in third with a time of 1’31.803. There were no red flags like in the Supersport session before it, with the only crashes coming from Ducati Alstare rider Ayrton Badovini and his teammate former World Superbike champion Carlos Checa.
The other members of the Brit pack had solid outings, too. Welshman Chaz Davies beat his BMW Motorrad team-mate Marco Melandri to fifth place, with the Italian having to settle for sixth position. Kawasaki's Tom Sykes finished in seventh, closely followed by Haslam’s teammate Jonathan Rea, with factory Aprilia rider Eugene Laverty finishing in 11th place.
