Further surprises came courtesy of Honda, who plummeted down the order between practice and qualifying. Carlos Checa was the best of the Japanese manufacturer's contingent, albeit down in 15th. It is probably a representation of the form shown by Honda currently that Checa would end up slower than his younger brother David on the Ipone Yamaha…
Team-mates Ryuichi Kiyonari – who was ninth fastest in free practice – dropped to 18th, while Kenan Sofuoglu and Karl Muggeridge were 20th and 22nd fastest too.
Honda aren't the only bikes to be struggling though, as Kawasaki are also enduring a tough start to the weekend. PSG-1 riders Regis Laconi and Makoto Tamada were 16th and 24th, while Ayrton Badovini was 23rd on the Pedercini machine.
Elsewhere, series returnees Jiri Drasdak and Christian Zaiser on their respective DFX Corse Honda and Grillini Yamaha machines were 27th and 29th out of 30 runners this weekend.
