Reigning World Superbike Champion Carlos Checa was hit with a double whammy on the first day of action at the Motorland Aragon round as the blistering track temperatures prevented him getting the rear grip required to try and balance out a massive top speed deficit.

The Althea Ducati man is down ten miles per hour along the circuit's longest straight and was relying on corner speed and exit to try and make some of that up, but the heat is such he is unable to get the traction and is struggling to understand why.

“Today we had some difficulty and the times didn’t come. Losing so much on the straightway means that we need to make up as much as possible in the corners but this is difficult in these conditions where I didn’t have the necessary rear grip," said Checa.

"It seems strange that we are losing so much to the others. I know we didn’t test here as many others have done but we have the same bike as last year and those references. Maybe today it’s hotter than last year or maybe the track has changed, I don’t know but I hope we can find something tomorrow.”