SBK Valencia day two Michelin report

Troy Corser will start the opening round of the World Superbike championship from pole position after a closely-fought Superpole final qualifying competition at the Valencia circuit in Spain on Saturday.

Corser leads the way for the two races at the 2.95-mile track and in second place on the grid will be his new team-mate Regis Laconi, a former winner at the Spanish track on a Michelin-shod Yamaha two years ago.

Colin Edwards (Castrol Honda - Michelin) will start the defence of his world title from third place on the grid with British Ducati rider Neil Hodgson fourth to complete the front row for what promises to be two exciting races at the opening round.

The second row is led by Ducati¹s Ben Bostrom in fifth place with his team-mate Troy Bayliss (Ducati Infostrada - Michelin) sixth, followed by championship newcomers Tady Okada (Castrol Honda - Michelin) and Ruben Xaus (Ducati Infostrada - Michelin) in seventh and eighth places respectively.

Honda team-mates Pere Riba and Fabien Foret battled it out for pole position in the World Supersport championship qualifying with Foret gaining the advantage in the closing stages.

Piergiorgio Bontempi starts from third and the front row is completed by Suzuki rider Katsuaki Fujiwara. Vittoriano Guareschi (Dienza Ducati Racing - Michelin Pilot) qualified in 10th place but was just 0.2s off a front row start as the top 16 riders were separated by less than one second.

-Michelin