HM Plant / GSE Ducati

Neil Hodgson will start Sunday’s two Superbike races from the front row of the grid. A determined Superpole performance saw him put in his first ever sub-2:02 circuit of the revised Assen layout, to grab fourth place. His HM Plant Ducati team-mate James Toseland also excelled, earning himself a seventh-placed start with a time of 2:02.619 in the Dunlop-sponsored single lap competition. Colin Edwards claimed pole despite careering off the track during the final section of a blisteringly quick lap.

Hodgson’s time of 2:01.958 was all the more impressive due to the fact that the 28-year-old Lancastrian was in considerable pain when he recorded it.

“I had a massive slide in the morning qualifying session,” explained Hodgson. “The rear wheel stepped out of line really violently and almost yanked my arm out of the socket. I got it checked out and had a painkilling injection but it seems that I’ve separated my elbow joint and this made it even harder to muscle the HM Plant Ducati around the track. Considering that I wasn’t 100% for Superpole, it’s great to have made it onto the front row, only 0.2secs off pole. I’m going to have some treatment and keep my arm on ice overnight, so hopefully it shouldn’t affect me too much in the races.”

James Toseland earned his second row start with what was quite possibly the best qualifying lap of his career. By adapting his riding style to suit the circuit, the 21-year-old Yorkshireman was able to slash over half a second from his previous best time at Assen and out-perform a host of full factory riders.

“I’m really pleased with my Superpole lap,” said Toseland. “I was concentrating on keeping it smooth all the way around and not trying too hard through the first few corners as I have done in the past. I was conscious not to move around the HM Plant Ducati as much as usual and that seemed to make a big difference. I’ll be putting what I leaned into effect in the races and I reckon that it should see me good for a top six finish.”

Ducati Infostrada

Ducati Infostrada riders Ruben Xaus and Troy Bayliss will start tomorrow's penultimate round of the World Superbike Championship from the front row of the grid after a spectacular afternoon at the Assen TT Circuit in the Netherlands. Championship leader Bayliss moved to the top of the timesheets with his Superpole lap before the final two riders Colin Edwards (Honda) and Xaus had their turns. The Texan was on course for pole before cutting through the final chicane, but his time was allowed to stand, while Xaus then shaved another tenth off Troy's time to take second. In the earlier free practice session, Xaus had caused a sensation when he lapped the revised Assen circuit in an extraordinary time of 2'01.680, which was 11/100ths of a second quicker than Valentino Rossi's pole time on a four-stroke Honda for this year's MotoGP race.

Bayliss worked hard with his Ducati Infostrada team in the morning qualifying to find the right set-up and was pleased with his provisional third before high-siding in the afternoon free session and then going out for his Superpole lap. "Finally we're starting to head in the right direction" he declared. "This morning we made a few changes to the suspension and used different brake discs to make the bike handle better and I felt confident enough to go for a quick time. We've had to struggle a bit since we came here but now we're really working well and I'm feeling good about the races tomorrow. My Superpole lap was the fastest I've done all weekend so I'm pretty happy with that because it means I start from the front row of the grid. I think you'll see Ruben, Colin and myself in the top three positions tomorrow but not necessarily in that order!".

Xaus (Ducati Infostrada) continued his superb Assen form in the morning's second qualifying session, the Spanish rider finding an extra tenth to head the combined times before crashing out on his final lap. "I think my performance has been good all weekend, but I had a scare on my Superpole warm-up lap. I don't know what happened but I nearly flew off twice before the first corner. Maybe I didn't clean off my new tyre well but eventually it was a good lap. In the last section I also braked a little too early so my lap time could have been even better. The track is really nice, I think my bike is really good and the tyres are perfect so what more can I say? My lap times on the race tyre are also good so I'm sure the race will be between us three guys tomorrow".

Ben Bostrom (Ducati L&M) was unable to improve on his overnight qualifying time in the morning and then in Superpole slipped down to ninth. "I'm having a bit of difficulty on the back section, on the second part of the track the other guys are going much quicker than me" declared Ben. "I'm still undecided on which bike set-up to pick for tomorrow, but my aim is to beat my best finish here by at least five positions. For some reason me and this track don't get along and that's strange because it's such a cool facility. The track would appear to suit my style but I end up fighting it. If I could finish top six then you'll find a big smile on my face this time tomorrow".