Laguna Seca Ducati Saturday notes

Ruben Xaus and Neil Hodgson will start from row 2 of the grid for the US Round of the World Superbike Championship at Laguna Seca after setting seventh and eight quickest time in this afternoon's Superpole session.

Multiple AMA Superbike champion Mat Mladin was on pole, followed by the two private Ducatis of Regis Laconi (Ducati NCR) and Pierfrancesco Chili (PSG-1 Ducati), while Giovanni Bussei will start from the third row of the grid with the Ducati Austin 998.

Both Ducati Fila riders struggled to find a perfect set-up in today's qualifying and free sessions, but remain cautiously optimistic for the races tomorrow.

"As always my Superpole lap was not so good" declared Ruben. "The right hand corners here are difficult as soon as you get out onto the track and I made a mistake and didn't lean into the curve enough, and that cost me some time. Free practice was much better, our race distance was good, so we think we are closer to the guys in front with race set-up. I hope to do a good start, because the race will be long. If the tyre I chose keeps going for 28 laps and is constant, then I know I will do a good job tomorrow".

"We haven't been able to find the right feeling with the bike" declared Neil. "We've had a few problems with grip and we never really found the right front-end feeling we're used to. I didn't do a really good Superpole lap either, basically I didn't get into the right rhythm. The tyres gave us some good indications during the afternoon free practice so I'm pretty confident for tomorrow because they are similar to the ones used last year, when they performed well in both races".