Biaggi tops Brno Superpole session

Max Biaggi claimed pole position as he topped the times in the Superpole session at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic.

The Italian knows he needs to start eating into Carlos Checa's 43-point advantage at the top of the standings if he is to give himself a realistic chance of retaining his title.
And he has given himself the best chance of securing a big points haul after his lap of one minute 58.580 seconds put his Aprilia at the head of the timesheets.
Biaggi ended the third and final part of qualifying with a 0.3 second gap to compatriot Marco Melandri, who took second place for Yamaha after being fastest in the first part of the session.
Championship leader Checa kept rival Biaggi in his sights by securing third spot aboard his Althea Ducati, while Northern Ireland's Eugene Laverty rounds out the front row on the second factory Yamaha.
Home hero Jakub Smrz leads off the second row on his Effenbert-Liberty Ducati ahead of the Alstare Suzuki of Michel Fabrizio.
Seventh and eighth places went to the English duo of Leon Camier and Tom Sykes, with the latter continuing to impress on the slowly improving Kawasaki.
Ayrton Badovini, another man who has showcased his pace recently is ninth with Sylvain Guintoli rounding out the top 10.
It was a difficult session for Leon Haslam, who starts 13th, while the Castrol Honda team endured a nightmare Saturday as Ruben Xaus and Alex Lowes both failed to even advance as far as the Superpole session and will start 17th and 21st respectively.