Lanzi delighted with second on Assen grid

Toseland roars to pole
How the grid looksLorenzo Lanzi was delighted with himself after he qualified second for the World Superbike double-header at Assen in the Netherlands.

The 25-year-old Italian had not qualified on the front row all season, but kept his head throughout his timed lap to produce a time good enough to see him hold off his world champion Ducati team-mate Troy Bayliss by three hundredths of a second.

And afterwards the two-time race-winner reflected on a performance that was nevertheless six tenths of a second adrift of James Toseland's pole time.

Lanzi: "[It was a] good session for me, a good superpole. I had quite a big problem with my rear tyre on the lap so to finish second makes me very happy.

"We have some strange conditions here in Assen - 35 degrees. Tomorrow we will have no problems though. I feel good."

Bayliss, by contrast, was not so impressed with his lap, and pointed to a mistake on the final sector of his effort as the reason for him missing out on pole.

But the Australian still believes he has a great chance to win one of Sunday's two races, and thinks looking after his Pirelli tyres will be the key to a good result in the unusually high 35 degree temperatures.

Bayliss: "It's a good place to be but everybody wants to be fast and I made a small mistake at the end of my lap.

"We are gonna have a nice day on Sunday but it's a bit touch and go for the race [as far as tyre choice goes]. We have one tyre that is a few tenths slower, but the heat is gonna mean we really have to conserve them."

EuroSport