Steve Martin will start tomorrow's second round races in the Superbike World Championship from second on the grid at his home circuit of Phillip Island, Australia.

And Garry McCoy's seventh-placed qualifying performance on the Petronas FP1 made it an exceptional day for the Foggy Petronas Racing team.

Steve finished an agonising six hundredths of a second behind Yukio Kagayama on pole by slicing another half a second off his previous best time in a thrilling Superpole lap.

Garry also took a huge 0.7 second chunk out of his fastest time after recording a series of impressively consistent times on race tyres during the preceding free practice session.

And, despite a changeable weather forecast, both riders are now relishing the prospect of tomorrow's race action in front of a partisan crowd.

Steve said: "When I went out I thought it was possible too finish that high, but maybe not with that time! But it's still frustrating to be just six hundredths off pole. The boys saying that I was sliding around but it felt fine to me! And I had a bit of pressure on me because Garry had just done a good lap and I thought `That's going to be hard to beat.' I have got a pretty good set-up for the race and I think it's going to be exciting. If I can get away with the front guys then I think I can be on that pace. But the first aim is to finish both races, and it would be great if we could finish on the podium. The team is working excellently and Petronas are bringing the bike on really well - and we have more to come soon."

Garry said: "I'm never totally happy unless I am first but I was happy with my Superpole time, which was seven tenths faster than I had gone earlier. I did quite a few laps in free practice on a new soft rear tyre and I was doing pretty consistent times - so I'm ready to race! I wasn't really pushing over the limit and I felt comfortable doing those times. I'm not sure how many laps the guys in front of me had done on their tyres but I felt I could pass them quite easily. The improvement came from just a little click adjustment here and there at the front and rear. I haven't used this set-up in the wet so we really want it to stay dry for tomorrow. Whatever the weather, I think it's going to be a packed out race."