Carlos Checa enjoyed a solid start to his time in the World Superbike Championship by leading the Honda challenge in the opening rounds of the season in Qatar.
The former
MotoGP racer qualified ninth on the grid aboard his 2008-specification Honda CBR10000 and enjoyed a trouble-free run in the opening race of the campaign for the Hannspree Ten Kate team that clinched the title last season thanks to
James Toseland.
The second race was more eventful for the Spaniard after he was involved in an early incident with the Suzuki of
Yukio Kagayama which dropped him to the rear of the field after the opening lap. However he battled back to take the flag in eleventh place, securing 15 points from the weekend and leaving him eighth in the early season standings.
"I feel comfortable overall after my first races," he said. "We have to work on the bike's chassis, but considering the bike has only just arrived and it's our first race I'm quite positive. I think we can become even more competitive this year.
"I touched Kagayama on the first lap of the second race when he tried to overtake me and nearly crashed. There was no room for the two of us and I had to go through the gravel and start again from the back of the field. Unfortunately this deprived me of my chance to try and make it closer to the front. The bike was feeling a lot better then it did in race one. The lap times have proved that we can do a lot better."
Reigning World Supersport champion
Kenan Sofuoglu was another rider from the Hannspree stable to enjoy a solid WSBK debut, with the Turkish ace picking up points in both of the Qatar races.
Having qualified in 14th place after making it into Superpole at the first attempt, he secured twelfth in the opening race before taking a maiden top ten in race two, just a second ahead of Checa on the road.
"My feeling is coming better and now I am starting to understand the Superbike," he said. "The biggest problem I have is that I am too tired and at the end of the race I think my pace dropped by half a second.
