Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) took the tenth pole position of his World Superbike career with a blistering lap of 1m25.449s at Brands Hatch, which becomes the Kent circuit's outright lap record. The Australian, who leads the championship by 73 points, will line up at the front of the grid for tomorrow's two races ahead of Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) and the Honda Ten Kate duo of Karl Muggeridge and James Toseland. Italian team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi set his quickest time over the weekend in the one-lap dash and will start from the third row of the grid in eleventh position.

"I went a little bit wide on the first corner and just missed the line by a foot so the first split wasn't great and I was maybe a little bit nervous but I put the lap together and it all came good in the end so I'm pretty happy to be starting on pole position tomorrow" declared Troy. "Brands Hatch is a funny place, it's got lots of dips and bumps and you have to set the bike different to every other place and as a result your lap looks quite ‘physical', but it does make for good racing and it should be a good day tomorrow. It's nice to be fastest and that's what everyone aims for, but a front row start here at Brands is always great. I took my second ever World Superbike win here in 2000 but that was a long time ago and I'd like to score a couple more tomorrow!"

"I did my quickest lap this weekend during the Superpole, but I had a bit of bad luck because we had to change the clutch before the session" commented Lorenzo. "It's not any excuse in any way but it made things a bit more difficult in Superpole. Today I really thought I could have got sixth or seventh place because I've always been more or less six tenths slower than Troy and with a time like that I could have got onto the second row. Starting from row 3 makes things a bit more difficult, hopefully I can get a good start because there are some tough guys to overtook ahead of me. However my race pace is good and I'm sure I can get two good results tomorrow."

The Ducati Xerox Team unveiled a themed Ducati 999F06 in front of the teams pit garage today during the World Superbike Championship race in Brands Hatch, as part of the joint promotion between Warner Bros. Consumer Products, Ducati Corse and Suomy for the launch of Warner Bros. Pictures action adventure film Superman Returns.

The 999F06 machines of Australian Troy Bayliss and Italian Lorenzo Lanzi, along with the riders leathers and helmets, feature graphic imagery based on the Warner Bros. blockbuster feature film. The riders helmets have been produced by Suomy, an official Superman Returns licensee producing motorcycle gear, apparel and accessories.

The bikes retain their regular Xerox livery, but are now highlighted with a flying Man of Steel graphic on the underbody fairing. Grey Superman shields are also present on the fuel tank, the front mudguard and on the side deflectors.

Instead of their regular red and white leathers, Troy Bayliss and Lorenzo Lanzi will switch to a blue and white set for the Brands Hatch WSBK round, with the legendary Superman shield logo strongly emblazoned both front and rear. The Suomy helmets of both riders have an exclusive design, and for a final light touch the mechanics on the grid will wear red Superman capes.

The Superman Returns-based colour scheme will appear on the machines and riders on Sunday at Brands Hatch, during the morning World Superbike warm-up and the two races, scheduled for 1200 and 1530.