"I was really excited for my first Superpole qualifying and happy with the result I achieved," said the double BSB champion. "After I endured some technical difficulties with my bike in the second practice session I had to get on my second bike and change the set up for that one to improve my lap times. I started the Superpole with a best of 1min 35.1secs and managed to take some more off in one lap which has boost my confidence. There's only that much time difference between the guys in the top 10 so it will be a fierce competition at the front tomorrow."
Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate
Carlos Checa had been fastest of all heading into Superpole, but slipped back to seventh after struggling to show his pace during the one-lap shootout. Nevertheless, the former
MotoGP star is confident that his race pace will allow him to fight his way forward in front of his home fans on Sunday.
"I am satisfied with the second qualifying in which we tested tyres and selected the best one to work with in the Superpole session," he said. "I' m still struggling to set that one fast lap on the qualifiers but am satisfied we can keep a consistently fast pace on the race tyres. That's were we can make the difference tomorrow in tomorrow's race."
Third Ten Kate rider,
Kenan Sofuoglu, will line-up just 24th on the grid - although his best lap was only 0.7secs from the top ten.
"Sofuoglu is improving step by step but the difficulties he's facing in adapting his riding style to the CBR1000RR become more apparent on a small track like Valencia," explained team manager Ronald ten Kate. "I'm convinced he will improve further in the next race when we travel to the fast circuit of Assen."
