Vermeulen's time from Friday was enough to keep him at the head of the leaderboard as the next 11 riders all improved on their Friday best during Saturday's final qualifying session. Vermeulen commented: "I thought Friday's lap was good but I didn't think it would be good enough for me to keep pole position."

Hondas fill the next two slots on the grid as championship leader Fabien Foret starts from second place with his Ten Kate Honda team-mate Iain MacPherson third.

Stephane Chambon completes the front row with his fellow Frenchman Sebastien Charpentier putting in a dramatic last lap for his best ever qualifying finish in fifth.

Charpentier is joined on row two by 1997 champion and last week's race winner Paolo Casoli, Honda UKšs Karl Muggeridge and championship challenger Katsuaki Fujiwara. Muggeridge was still feeling the effects of a Friday morning crash but the gritty Australian expects to be fully fit for tomorrow's 16-lap race.