BAYLISS FASTEST WITH NEW TRACK BEST Running on Pirelli race tyres, on a cool dry circuit, Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) came close to replicated the race tyre times he set in a three day mid-season Lausitzring test session, and in doing so scored the fastest lap of the opening day at Lausitz, 1'38.331. It beat the previous best lap of 1'39.019, set during last year's race weekend. Bayliss, who could wrap up the title this weekend, found no shortage of challengers in a field of 29 runners, and closest to him was Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), only 0.219 seconds down.

PROVISIONAL FRONT ROW COMPLETED BY YANAGAWA AND PITT Corser's team-mate Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) underlined his recent speed with third quickest time on day one, with Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) a minuscule 0.002 seconds behind. The spread of machines in the top echelons was swollen by the Winston Ten Kate Honda of Karl Muggeridge, fifth fastest. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox), a race winner at EuroSpeedway Lausitz last season, was in fine form in sixth place, ahead of Pitt's team-mate, Noriyuki Haga. The second row of the provisional grid was completed by the second placed rider in the current series, James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) who experienced gearbox problems early in the day.

BARROS NINTH AS HE PUSHES HARD DURING THE TITLE RUN IN Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda) slotted into ninth place on the opening day 'grid' just ahead of recent race victor, Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse), who was the best of the green men on day one. Michel Fabrizio (DFX Treme Honda) went 11th fastest, with Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) 12th.

MARTIN IMPRESSES AS EVER AS JONES STARTS IN FINE FORM Steve Martin (Foggy Petronas FP-1) was in strong starting form at Lausitz, running the 900cc Petronas machine to 13th from 29 riders, with his team-mate Craig Jones making great strides in his rookie season, scoring 19th best time today. The top 13, from Bayliss to Martin, were all within 1.5 seconds. Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Berik Ducati) ran out 14th, one place ahead of Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse). Last man in the provisional Superpole 16 was Marco Borciani (Sterilgarda Berik Ducati). Yamaha Motor France riders Norick Abe and Shinichi Nakatomi scored 18th and 26th fastest places respectively.

PRIVATEERS AIMING FOR SUPEPROLE ON DAY TWO If Saturday proves as dry and warm as expected, then many of the privateers in the current 'exclusion zone' outside the Superpole qualifying places will have another opportunity to join the pre-race elite. Pierfrancesco Chili (DFX Treme Honda) is currently 20th, with top wildcard rider Stefan Nebel (Kawasaki Docshop racing) 21st, ahead of another wild card, Didier Vankeymeulen.
Max Neukirchner is 24th on his first real run out on home soil on the Alstare Engineering Suzuki. One place back in 25th was Kurtis Roberts

SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) ripped up the tarmac around EuroSpeedway Lausitz with a new track best of 1'41.167 in first qualifying at Lausitz. The championship leader was untouchable, with the next nearest rider proving to be Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda), some 0.695 seconds down. Johan Stigefelt (Stiggy Motorsports Honda) went third fastest, with Curtain's closest challenger Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) fourth. Robbin Harms (Stiggy Motorsports Honda) slotted in fifth, ahead of Yoann Tiberio (Megabike Honda). Carrying on his good turn of speed at Assen to another race weekend, Kai Borre Andersen (Hoegee Suzuki) was seventh. No fewer than 36 riders attempted to qualify for the Supersport race on day one, with top Ducati rider being Gianluca Nannelli (Team Manila Grace SC Caracchi). His team-mate, Stuart Easton, was 28th.

SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) staked a strong early claim to the Lausitz weekend with a first session lap time some 0.824 better than Ayrton Badovini (Biassono Unionbike MV Agusta). Luca Scassa (EVR Corse Ormeni Racing) was third and holds a significant time advantage over championship leader Alessandro Polita (Celani Suzuki Racing), who was fully 1.230 seconds down on Corti's best, with one session remaining.

SUPERSTOCK 600 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP Ducati Xerox rider Niccolo Canepa enjoyed a highly fruitful first day in qualifying, with his 1'46.724 clearly better than the next qualifier, championship leader Xavier Simeon (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra). Andrea Antonelli (Junior Team Italia Honda) went third quickest, setting up a thrilling battle for the next qualifying session.