The Castrol Honda pairing of Ruben Xaus and Alex Lowes have both made advances on their Honda CBR1000RR Fireblades on the opening day of round eight of the 2011 World Superbike championship at Brno in the Czech Republic.

Xaus shaved almost a second off his opening free practice time in this afternoon’s qualifying session, which was headed by series leader and Xaus’s fellow Spaniard, Carlos Checa.

On the other side of the Castrol Honda garage, Alex Lowes is replacing injured rider Jonathan Rea and the 20-year-old from Lincoln in the UK made forward strides in each of today’s two sessions as he gets to grip with a new bike on an unfamiliar circuit.

Ruben Xaus – P16 2m00.681s

We are struggling a little with speed up the big hill here and we have some chatter at the front of the bike. Most of the corners here are higher speed and we don’t use first gear anywhere, so the higher rpm does not help the chatter. We are also a long time on the brakes which transfers the weight to the front, so we need to look at this problem tonight to see where we can improve things. It’s holding me back a bit and we need to find the half second that will put me with the top group of riders.

Alex Lowes – P21 2m02.430s

It’s been a fantastic day, but there’s a lot to take in and to learn. The first session was great and I really enjoyed myself – it was great to get out on the bike and find out what it’s like. This afternoon I had a small crash, which was unfortunate, but I know how it happened and I think that’s the main thing I’ve learned from today. I need to change my riding style and stop riding the bike like a 600. It’s the first time I’ve really seen some proper data and the guys have shown me that I’m carrying too much brake into the corners. My corner entry speeds are faster than Jonathan’s from last year, so that’s where I need to focus tomorrow, to brake harder and then get off them earlier. I’m looking forward to trying it tomorrow.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager

It’s been a solid, if not spectacular day and, in spite of a small crash in qualifying, Alex has adapted to the bike very well. We have some areas to concentrate on that will allow him to improve his lap time and his position for tomorrow. With Ruben, too, we know what is needed for him to get closer to the front and we will be working on that together for tomorrow’s second qualifying session.

2011 World Superbike championship, round eight – Brno, Czech Republic
First qualifying results:

1 Carlos Checa (ESP) Ducati 1m59.322s
2 Jakub Smrz (CZE) Ducati 1m59.585s
3 Marco Melandri (ITA) Yamaha 1m59.653s
4 Eugene Laverty (IRL) Yamaha 1m59.906
5 Max Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia 1m59.940s
6 Tom Sykes (GBR) Kawasaki 2m00.154s
16 Ruben Xaus (ESP) Castrol Honda 2.00.681s
21 Alex Lowes (GBR) Castrol Honda 2m02.430s