Bayliss grabs provisional pole

Toseland on provisional poleTroy Bayliss gave himself a clear shot at pole position by topping the second qualifying session for rounds nine and ten of the World Superbike Championship at Assen in the Netherlands.

The 38-year-old Australian flew around the circuit on his Ducati - three tenths of a second quicker than James Toseland's pace-setting time of Friday to see himself head into Superpole as the man to beat.

Bayliss' lap of 1:39.245 was just 0.141seconds quicker than his namesake Troy Corser, who also spent time at the top of the leaderboard on his Motor Italia Yamaha.

British rider Toseland, who leads the championship, dropped to third on the provisional grid on his Ten Kate Honda, but was still within two tenths of a second of Bayliss, while Ruben Xaus completed the provisional front row for Sterilgada Ducati.

Lorenzo Lanzi on a works Ducati was fifth with Noriyuki Haga - second on Friday - dropping to sixth on the second Motor Italia Yamaha.

Spaniard Fonsi Nieto's PSG-1 Kawasaki headed the brilliant Jakub Smrz, who defied the odds to make it into Superpole on his two-year-old Caracchi Ducati. Suzuki Germany's Max Neukirchner and Alto Evolution Honda's Karl Muggeridge completed the top ten.

Max Biaggi - second in the championship - was unusually not the quickest Suzuki runner. The Italian was a hugely disappointing 12th on his Alstare-run machine and will he looking for a big improvement in Superpole.

Britain's Dean Ellison again missed the cut-off point for the afternoon session. The Pedercini Ducati rider will start both races from 19th - almost four and a half seconds off the pace.

EuroSport