Althea Racing’s Carlos Checa and Shane Byrne set encouraging lap times at the recent Misano tests, helping the team to forget the unfortunate round at Miller Motorsports Park.

The blow of Carlos’ two race retirements in America remains but the team immediately got back to work in preparation for teh next WSBk round at Misano, which will hopefully bring more success than in the USA. The fastest unofficial time set by the Spanish rider was an impressive 1m 36.3s recorded in unusual conditions. On the upcoming race weekend, starting this Friday, Checa will strive to be fast using the new Pirelli tyre for teh round.

Last year, and on board Honda, Checa started from the second row and, in a wet Race 1 that forced the riders to swap bikes, he finished in 11th while in Race 2 he closed in fifth ahead of Byrne. The Spaniard is in a determined frame of mind, having stated more than once that he wants to put Miller behind him, and fast, by taking strong results at Misano.

Miller brought a sixth and seventh place for Shane Byrne in a year in which he continues to grow, moving towards the front positions after having worked with his team to make some changes to his Ducati to better suit his riding style.

It’s noteworthy that last year the Englishman stepped up to the podium in Race 1 at Misano, with Ducati, and that in last week’s tests he was lapping just a few tenths slower than Fabrizio and Checa.

General Manager of Althea Racing, Genesio Bevilacqua, said “We come to Misano aware of our potential and with a strong desire to rebuild after the unlucky Miller round. Carlos and Shane will undoubtedly be able to get the best out of their Ducatis, having demonstrated in America that they can keep pace with the factory bikes. We trust, almost superstitiously, that our dose of bad luck has been used up in America”.