Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Troy Corser put in a virtually perfect lap to take Superpole at Magny-Cours today. His time of 1:39.147 was over one and a half seconds inside the lap record and two-10ths-of-a-second ahead of his nearest rival James Toseland (Honda).

Corser’s team mate Yukio Kagayama suffered from wheelspin in the final part of his Superpole lap and ended eighth quickest and will start from the second row of the grid behind Alstare Engineering’s Max Neukirchner. But, like Corser, he feels that he has got a good set-up for the race and is confident of challenging for the podium.

Third quickest today was Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati), with Karl Muggeridge (Honda) completing the front row of the grid.

Troy Corser - 1st, 1:39.147:
“The Superpole lap felt more or less perfect and I’m really happy to have taken it here - in the last race of the year. We’ve been in pretty good shape all weekend really and have just been fine-tuning the bike over the past couple of days. It’s always good to win Superpole and I am particularly pleased today for myself, for my mechanics and the entire Alstare crew. Last year I had to start from the fourth row of the grid here so I’m in much better shape this year! It’s going to be a long, hard day tomorrow and I’m sure that the races are going to be tough, but I want to end the season with a couple of podiums for sure - and maybe a win.”

Yukio Kagayama - 8th, 1:40.079:
“The first part of my Superpole lap was good but the last part was not! The rear was spinning a lot and I just couldn’t get good drive and that’s why I lost time. But I think I have a good set-up for the race - after the good work we did this afternoon - and podiums are definitely possible. Troy-san was very strong today and I am sure that he will be very strong tomorrow, but there will be many other challengers for sure. The second part of my season has been much better than the first part and I would like to finish with two very good results.”

Max Neukirchner - 7th, 1:39.961:
“Today was a good one for us and I was very happy with my Superpole lap - and regular qualifying and practice was not so bad either. Each time I get on the bike I learn something more and I think we are improving bit by bit for sure. The set-up of the bike felt quite good today and now I hope I can take advantage of my good grid position and get a couple of good results. I certainly want to finish both races tomorrow after last weekend’s disaster.”