Troy dominated this afternoon’s qualifying session at Phillip Island and posted a time of 1:33.191 - nearly three tenths of a a second ahead of his nearest rival, team mate Yukio Kagayama. Troy had not been fastest in the morning untimed session, but wisely kept something in reserve for the afternoon, when the lap times started tumbling. The wind had been a bit of a problem for all riders in the morning because it kept changing direction, but it was more consistent in the afternoon and all the riders found the conditions a bit easier. Behind Troy and team mate Yukio, Frenchman Regis Laconi (Ducati) set the third quickest time of the day, with Aussie Andrew Pitt (Yamaha) fourth. Current world champion James Toseland decided to concentrate on a race set-up today and did not use any qualifying tyres and so ended the day with only the fifteenth fastest time.

TROY 1st, 1:33.191 - "I tried a qualifying tyre about twenty minutes from the end of this afternoon’s session, because I didn’t want the final part to be a bit of a panic. I knew everybody would be going for it towards the end, so I wanted to get one in the bag early and let everybody chase my time.

"Funnily enough, although I knew my quick lap was a good one, I didn’t realise how good it had been! I thought I’d done a mid 1:33 and would’ve been happy with that, but then I realised that it was a 1:33.191! And, It could have been quicker, except that I didn’t push it 100% in a couple of places - if I had, then it would have been a 1:32!

"I knew that my team mate would be a big threat because he has ridden here quite a few times. Also, he’s on the same bike as me and it is a bike good enough to win the championship, so he is always going to be a big threat.

"There was a bit of a clutch problem this morning but that was soon fixed and everything went pretty smoothly after that. The wind here was more of a problem this morning because it was inconsistent. In the afternoon, I think we all found it a bit easier and, because it was timed qualifying, everybody went quicker. I aim to take Superpole tomorrow and be in the perfect position for the two races on Sunday."