James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) scored his best lap of the weekend to earn a place on the front row at the final round of the 2006 season. His 1'39.355 lap was the second best overall, as Troy Corser scored pole. Crucially, Toseland's rival for overall second in the championship, Noriyuki Haga, was only fifth fastest, and now starts from one row behind Toseland. James is two points ahead of Haga currently, and only has to keep his nose ahead of the Japanese rider in the 23-lap races to secure second in the final points standings.

Eighth away in Superpole, Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) jumped to the top of the Superpole ranking with his 1'39.911 lap, over a second faster than he was in regulation qualifying. He stayed there until Corser set his fastest lap, and Karl now starts the race from the front row, thanks to the fourth best time of the session.

Ronald Ten Kate - Team Manager
“With both riders on the front row I am still a happy man, and all four of our riders, including the two in Supersport, got on the front row - which I think is quite remarkable. Both Superbike riders had good laps, just a few mistakes here and there. We know we had to be very fast to win this Superpole and we nearly made it anyway. It is important here to have both riders starting from the front row, because tomorrow is all about second place in the championship. Now we have the best starting point possible.”

James Toseland - Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(2nd Position - Fastest Lap 1'39.355 - 25 laps)
“I should stop watching other people's Superpole laps because at Imola Bayliss went as fast as Valentino Rossi and now Troy Corser went out here and beat my time! I put a pretty good lap together, to be fair, second fastest of the weekend, and second on the grid. So I'm in a good position to put together a challenge for second place in the championship, which is the most important thing. Earlier today my rival Haga and I went out and were fighting for about 25-minutes in practice, and he ended up a row behind on the grid. The Yamaha gets off the like OK, but I just need to keep in front of him. I can't fight for the championship win anymore, so I want this second place badly.”

Karl Muggeridge - Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(4th Position - Fastest Lap 1'39.911 - 23 laps)
“We've been fortunate this weekend because we tried a few things on my second bike, after my normal number one bike developed a gearbox problem. Testing here was a real benefit to us - it always is when you get the chance before you come to the race weekend. We had similar weather at the test but we have learned more about the track and the bike here than we did at the test. I would love to get on the podium tomorrow, that's what I'm going for.”

Supersport

Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) lowered the best Supersport lap time at Magny-Cours once more to set pole for Sunday's 22-lap race, despite far from ideal conditions underfoot. It was his eighth pole of the 2006 season. Once again the track and weather conditions conspired to make it a difficult day for the Supersport entrants, and shortly after a very short spell of light rain appeared, Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda) fell at a fast section of the 4.411km circuit, but he escaped without further injury to the leg he injured yesterday. Championship leader Kevin Curtain was only fifth on the grid, good news for Charpentier, who is still in with a chance to retain his championship crown.

Ronald Ten Kate - Team Manager
“Obviously we have very good start positions at Sebastien's home race tomorrow, first and second, with Kevin in fifth. That means he is on the second row, so it's the best possible position for us to start the race. We saw an incredible lap from Sebastien just before the rain came, and he was still on a very used front tyre, so we know that he could have gone even quicker. With Kenan, he really saw his chance for pole because he was very fast again here. But he overdid it when the first rains came. Because we know how slippery it is here as soon as there is any rain on the track surface. He had a small crash, and he limped away just because of the injury he suffered yesterday. When he got back to the pits we could see that he is OK and we even let him back out on his spare machine to test the bike and check all was OK with him. It was, and we are in great form for tomorrow. We are ready for it, we want to win, and also give a good salute to the CBR600RR, which has dominated the series for three years - it is by far the most successful machine ever in World Supersport.

Sebastien Charpentier - Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(Pole Position – Fastest Lap 1'42.506 - 23 Laps)
“I didn't push 100% because on the second lap there was a little bit of rain on the track so I closed the gas a little bit. I guess it was possible to go a little quicker. I think the goal for tomorrow is to make 1'43s in the race and I hope that is the situation in the race. I hope that I can give a good performance and win it, and I am not sure how Curtain was after today. But if he finishes with five or six points it will be terrible for me. If there was a South African race still to go this year, then we may have a very different story, even now. I have a new challenge next year for Honda so that is a very important thing for me. I am happy because I have a very good team around me and they work in a good direction. I hope the weather is better, because it is a little bit strange, and cold. So to make a 1'42.5 is good for all of us.”

(Kenan Sofuoglu - Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider)
(2nd Position – Fastest Lap 1'43.097 - 24 Laps
“It all went well until the last lap when light rain fell on my visor. I thought I could get one more fast lap, but I couldn't and fell. But for the race the set-up is the way I wanted, the team works well - just like Imola - and I am up there with Sebastien. That's good for my morale, because I demonstrated that I have the chance of a good race on Sunday.”