Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) set the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza alight this afternoon with a blistering time in Superpole, the Australian setting a new circuit best lap of 1 minute 44.931 seconds to clinch his third pole position in five races this season.
Bayliss managed to improve his Free Practice 2 time on qualifying tyres a few minutes before Superpole by 0.008 seconds, leaving all his other rivals trailing. The front row however is also made up of machines from Suzuki, Yamaha and Honda as well as Ducati, with Kawasaki not far behind, confirming the competitiveness of all the manufacturers.
Second quickest time went to the rapidly improving Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Alstare), three-tenths of a second behind Bayliss, followed by 2007 double winner Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) and Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). The Suzuki squad has looked particularly impressive so far here at Monza, with the Belgian team's other two riders Yukio Kagayama and Fonsi Nieto qualifying on row 2 of the grid, together with Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati) and Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda).
Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati) made progress this afternoon, the Italian qualifying in fifteenth place after the two sessions but moving up to ninth in the one-lap dash, a result that gives him a third row grid start. Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) struggled to twelfth quickest time behind Régis Laconi (Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse) but ahead of Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) in thirteenth.
Troy Bayliss: "It's been a bit of a mixed weekend, we've been struggling a bit with the race tyre but we've worked hard, trying different things and finally it's come quite good. We were down a little way this morning but made a few changes and now we are much more consistent on the race tyre. I was very happy with the lap I did in Superpole. I thought it was possible Nori or Max could do a little faster, but they made tiny mistakes and that was enough to keep that lap. I also made a little mistake in the first chicane when I ran wide but it came together good. Tomorrow will see some tough racing, Max is consistent on the tyre and proving to be a real contender. It's very difficult to get away at Monza, I have a feeling it's going to be between Max, Nori and myself but I'm sure it's going to be more than that for the first eight laps".
Max Neukirchner: "I'm really happy with the second place and I think we found a good race set-up for tomorrow. I did a lot of fast laps today and also yesterday and am happy that the mechanics did a good job, hopefully we are in front tomorrow. It's great to be up at the front with the other guys regularly in World Superbike, and now I feel really good in the team. I know it's only a second place I did, I made one little mistake in Superpole, but am really satisfied with today's performance".
Noriyuki Haga: "I am very happy for the time but am a bit disappointed because I could not improve last year's lap time, but that's OK. I get the first row and I think it's going to be a tough race and I try to do my best. I'm not sure how things will be tomorrow, especially on this track, I cannot think about race distance or even tactics, but we have 18 laps and anything can happen".
World Supersport
Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport) will start tomorrow's fifth round of the FIM Supersport World Championship from pole position after setting an incredible time of 1 minute 49.868 seconds, the only rider to dip below the 1 minute 50 second mark.
His last-minute lap time allowed him to grab the pole for the second time this year. Joshua Brookes (Hannspree Stiggy Motors Honda), who had held the overnight pole, maintained his front-row grid position despite not improving his time. The two Australians will be flanked by two Yamahas, the World Supersport team version of Frenchman Fabien Foret and the Lorenzini by Leoni R6 of Italy's Massimo Roccoli. This was Roccoli's best yet 2008 qualifying performance, making him also one of the candidates for the win.
Four Honda CBR600RR riders make up the second row of the grid: young British talent Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate), Gianluca Vizziello (Berry Racing), Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate) and Robbin Harms (Hannspree Stiggy Motors). Gianluca Nannelli (Honda) could only make row 3 behind Australian Mark Aitchison (Triumph Italia), while points leader Joan Lascorz (Glaner Motocard.com Honda) was in difficulty, the Spaniard crashing again today and only qualifying sixteenth place.
