Valencia, 2 November: Spanish favourite Carlos Checa began the build-up to his final MotoGP race with the eleventh fastest time in today’s closely contested free practice sessions. In warm autumn conditions, Checa worked through his Michelin race tyre and set-up options aboard his Honda RC212V for Sunday’s Valencia Grand Prix.

Checa has already decided on a rear tyre for the race but will continue further evaluation of front tyres in tomorrow’s practice and qualifying. Checa’s fastest lap today, 1’33.831, made him just one of 14 riders within one second of the fastest time, set by Casey Stoner.

CHECA: Eleventh - 1’33.831

CHECA : “We did a lot of work on tyres today and already the selection for the rear tyre for the race is clear. But we still have to do more tests for our front tyre selection and we will continue that tomorrow along with more set-up changes to find the best combination of handling and tyres. Even if we can find two tenths of a second here this is important, because this is a short circuit and the times are very close. For this GP my Honda is fast, it is in the top three for speed, and this is a positive point for my final race in MotoGP.”

In first qualifying for the 250cc Grand Prix, Eugene Laverty was searching for set-up solutions after being both surprised, and disappointed, with his pace today.

LAVERTY: “Things cannot get any worse than today, I’m two seconds a lap slower than when I tested here at the start of the season. It’s a mystery, I don’t have any feel on the front-end under brakes and corner entry. I know I can go a lot faster than this.”