Bayliss heads pack on home track

Troy Bayliss made home advantage count as he claimed provisional pole for tomorrow's second round of the World Superbikes Championship here yesterday.

Bayliss, the reigning world champion, clocked a superb time on his Ducati Infostrada of 1min 32.656sec to top the timesheets by almost half a second from the Castrol Honda rider, Colin Edwards.

Pierfrancesco Chili produced a surprise to lift his Ducati NCR on to the provisional front row in third place after a dreadful weekend in the opening round at Valencia. Chili just edged out Aprilia's Noriyuki Haga.

Of the British riders, Neil Hodgson took his HM Plant Ducati to provisional eighth place with a time of 1:34.022, just ahead of his ninth-placed team-mate James Toseland. Chris Walker qualified 13th on his Kawasaki, while Mark Heckles took his Honda to 22nd.

Hodgson, who was frustrated after a fall by another rider ruined his quick lap, said: "I have a reasonable set-up and the bike is turning quicker than before. I spent a lot of the session adjusting my riding style to minimise tyre wear."