Report - Final Qualifying - Ten Kate

The second round of the 2007 World Superbike Championship continued today as all four seasons seemed to pass over Phillip Island in one day. The HANNspree Ten Kate Honda riders saw rain, wind and sunshine before completing the Superpole session this afternoon. Following an eventful day, James Toseland will start tomorrow's race from second position on the grid, while his team-mate Roberto Rolfo will begin from fifteenth.

Toseland spent much of the day in battle with current World Champion Troy Bayliss. The pair swapped places at the top of the timesheets throughout the weekend, with the British rider reigning yesterday and the Australian just ahead in today's rankings. The combined qualifying result saw Toseland enter Superpole as the second fastest rider - just one tenth of a second behind his rival.

The tense Superpole session took place in humid conditions with a strong wind that changed direction frequently. Toseland took to the track in the penultimate timed lap and stormed to the top of the rankings with a time of 1'32.198. Bayliss followed and finished the lap of his home track in an incredibly close time of 1'32.145 - just 0.053 seconds faster than Toseland. As a result, James will start from second on the grid.

Superpole was more difficult for Roberto Rolfo as a mechanical fault on his Honda CBR1000RR robbed him of a position in the top eight. From a best lap of 1'33.683 in the qualifying practices, Rolfo's Superpole time came in at 1'36.295 to place him fifteenth on the grid. Sixteenth position is reserved for Karl Muggeridge who crashed out in qualifying and was unable to take part in the session.

Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager:
"Even though we are not at the top of the timesheets today I have to say that I am very happy because we have found a very good race setting for the bikes, especially with James. I'm also happy with Roby's race set-up and race pace so we are ready to go tomorrow. Missing out on Superpole might look like a downer but it isn't really - it just would have been a nice bonus - and anyway we know that Troy Bayliss is very fast around Phillip Island. I am sorry for Roby as he was really ready for Superpole and we were aiming for a second row start for him. Unfortunately he had a technical problem with his bike so it wasn't to be. We are now just hoping that the weather is ok tomorrow and that we don't have to make any big changes."&nb sp;

James Toseland:
"Qualifying has been great for me. My bike is working well and is ready to go, the team are working hard and everything is looking good for tomorrow. I wanted to take the success we had in Qatar and bring it here and I feel like so far we have achieved that. Obviously I would have liked Superpole, but I am happy with the front row and I'm looking forward to the race."

Roberto Rolfo:
"I am really disappointed. Through no fault of anyone a technical diffculty with my bike caused me problems on the Superpole lap and I dropped down in the rankings. On the positive side though, it's been a satisfying weekend overall and I have a good package for the race that will hopefully establish us in the top ten of the Championship standings after tomorrow's race."

Supersport

The second qualifying session at the Phillip Island round of the 2007 World Supersport Championship took place in mixed weather today. With the threat of rain ever present, the two HANNspree Ten Kate Honda riders put in some impressive times to regain their positions in the top four on the timesheet. The 45-minute session ended with Sébastien Charpentier and Kenan Sofuoglu in third and fourth places respectively - securing their spots on the front row of the grid for tomorrow's race.

Track conditions were once again far from ideal, with an earlier Australian national race being declared wet. Although the rain cleared in time for the second Supersport qualifying session this afternoon, it was replaced by a strong, warm breeze that only added to the humid conditions.

Despite this, Charpentier and Sofuoglu recorded their fastest lap times of the weekend to achieve front row positions for round two of the series. Defending world champion Charpentier's best lap now stands at 1'35.346 - over half a second quicker than yesterday and less than two tenths of a second behind fastest rider Fabien Foret.

In a reversal of Friday's qualifying results, championship leader Kenan Sofuoglu finished just behind his team-mate with a best lap of 1'35.480. The Turkish rider improved on his previous best for the weekend by almost half a second. Once again, the top six riders are sitting incredibly close, with a gap of just 0.664 seconds separating the contenders. Only tomorrow's race will decide which one is victorious.

Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager:
"We obviously had a lot of work to do after yesterday's first qualifying. Overnight we made a lot of changes and devised a lot of new strategies on the direction to go in with the bike. It seemed to be working out quite well in the free practice. Just before the second qualifying session we made some extra changes and decided on a final setting for the bike. Unfortunately we were unlucky with the weather and the wind picked up so by the time we got the softer tyres on and were ready to go for the fast laps, we didn't really get the chance. Both riders still managed to improve their lap times so I'm happy with that. It's been hard work today but I'm feeling more and more confident that we can get a race win tomorrow."

Sébastien Charpentier:
"It has not been so bad today. This morning we really improved with the changes to the bike, which the team worked very hard overnight to complete. This afternoon the wind was very strong so it was the same for everybody. I am happy to be on the front row, although it is difficult for me to finish third because I have achieved pole position here before, but it's ok. We'll be making more changes to the bike for the race tomorrow and I think it's a good possibility that I will finish on the podium."

Kenan Sofuoglu:
"I feel better today because we have tried some new things and managed to get our times down. It's been difficult because we had a test here and perfected the set-up of the bike, but it has been impossible to use that set-up here because the weather and track conditions here are completely different. We have had to do a lot of work on the bike, particularly with the suspension and the gearing and I think we have the right setting now. I really feel like I have a good chance of winning the race, or at least making the podium so I am a lot happier today."