After qualifying Ben Bostrom (Ducati L&M) was fifth quickest after shaving three-tenths of a second off his time yesterday, but in the Superpole session the Californian had to work hard to get into the top 4 positions on the grid. "Wow! I really had to sweat to get on the front row today”, he declared. “I thought it was a really good lap until I locked the front going into the chicane and I was real slow going in there. I was watching the board because I thought Colin would beat me in there but he was a bit slower and I just squeezed onto the front row. My race simulation was pretty good, although I didn’t push hard in the free session because tomorrow is going to be a big day and I’m saving everything for the races. The bike set-up is good, the tyres are working well and I’m locked into the front row so I’m pretty pleased with the way things have gone so far”.

Troy Bayliss (Ducati Infostrada), who qualified for Superpole in sixth, was pleased with his performance at a track where he has had little fortune in the past and confirmed that he would mainly be watching out for his Honda rival Colin Edwards in tomorrow’s two races. “Even though my Superpole lap was a bit messy, I went much better than last year” declared Troy. “A second row start is OK and I’m glad that Colin is on the same row as me because he’s the main person I’ll be looking at tomorrow. I’m confident the bike is set up well for the two races and I’m quite happy with my performance on my race tyre which was the same as the qualifying tyre”.

Ruben Xaus (Ducati Infostrada), who had qualified for Superpole in tenth position after failing to improve on yesterday’s time, will start from row 3. The young Spanish rider confirmed that his bike was set up well and that he would be aiming to gain as many points as possible from the two races. “We’ll see what happens tomorrow”, declared Ruben. “Hopefully I’ll get a good start, it all depends on that. The bike is perfect and my race set-up is good, I just had a few problems with my qualifying tyre. I also did a good race simulation so anything could happen. I’m sure everyone will be trying their hardest tomorrow and it will be an interesting race, but it’s important to come away from here with points”.

HM Plant Ducati’s Neil Hodgson was on top form at Sugo and came close to setting pole position after losing out in the final slow chicane section. “I’m here for the fight definitely”, he declared. “In the last few races I’ve improved a lot and become very confident with the bike so my aim is to give 100% for 25 laps and I’m not going to give in. If there’s a chance, I’m going to go for the win!”.

1. Noriyuki Haga - 1m28.806
2. Neil Hodgson - 1m28.823
3. Makoto Tamada - 1m28.861
4. Ben Bostrom - 1m29.216
5. Colin Edwards - 1m29.259
6. Akira Yanagawa - 1m29.545
7. Troy Bayliss - 1m29.626
8. Eric Bostrom - 1m29.914
9. Takeishi Tsujimura - 1m29.981
10. Wataru Yoshikawa - 1m30.188
11. James Toseland - 1m30.287
12. Ruben Xaus - 1m30.377
13. Yuichi Takeda - 1m30.745
14. Chris Walker - 1m30.796
15. Gregorio Lavilla - 1m30.918
16. Lucio Pedercini - 1m31.291

The following riders did not make the SuperPole cut-off

17. Borja - 1m30.593
18. Borciani - 1m30.762
19. Heckles - 1m31.620
20. Nakamura - 1m31.830 (Time from 1st session)
21. Antonello - 1m32.012
22. Martin - 1m32.117 (Time from 1st session)
23. Clementi - 1m32.190
24. Parkes - 1m32.226
25. Sanchini - 1m32.573 (Time from 1st session)

NB:  Hitoyasu qualified for SuperPole but highsided during qualifying and as a result has to miss this weekend's round with a fractured left radius.  Organisers then promoted Eric Bostrom from his 17th position on the time sheets to 16th which enabled him to run SuperPole.  The American took full advantage during SuperPole and moved himself up to the 2nd row.