The gritty Australian bounced back from a heavy fall in the morning's free practice session to grab a place on the provisional second row of the grid for Sunday's 16-lap race.

Muggeridge said: "It was a big fall this morning and I took a bang on the head and wasn't sure if I was going to make this afternoon's qualifying session. Once I was out on the track I felt comfortable enough to chase a good qualifying time.

"We did have a little bit of a problem with the rear suspension and lost some time which, in the end, probably cost me the chance of one more fast lap on a soft compound tyre."

John McGuinness, on the second of the Honda UK CBR600s, was happy with his first day at the fast, sweeping Assen circuit. McGuinness finished in 26th place but is confident of a much faster lap tomorrow.

"To get any sort of quick pace going around here you really have to know the circuit well," said McGuinness. "By the end of this afternoon's session I felt dialled in and ready to try for a fast lap."

He continued: "I'm losing out a little in the middle section of the lap so I'll try and give that some thought this evening and hopefully a few changes to the machine set-up will be worth a better lap time tomorrow."