 Toseland has seized the upper hand in his battle for second |
James Toseland set the second quickest time behind Troy Corser in qualifying for Sunday's final round of the World Superbike Championship in France. Toseland will now start on the front row for the two races and is crucially ahead of Nori Haga.
The Briton is battling for the runner-up spot behind champion Troy Bayliss and leads Haga by two points.
Haga will be on the second row after qualifying fifth fastest while Bayliss was sixth fastest.
"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," said Toseland.
"The Yamaha gets off the line okay, but I just need to keep in front of him.
I can't fight for the championship win any more, so I want this second place
badly."
Chris Walker was 11th, with Craig Jones failing to make the superpole session and setting the 25th best time.
Leading positions after superpole
1 Troy Corser (Aus) Suzuki 1min 39.147secs
2 James Toseland (Gbr) Honda 1:39.355
3 Lorenzo Lanzi (Ita) Ducati 1:39.773
4 Karl Muggeridge (Aus) Yamaha 1:39.911
5 Noriyuki Haga (Jpn) Yamaha 1:39.914
6 Troy Bayliss (Aus) Ducati 1:39.944
7 Max Neukirchner (Ger) Suzuki 1:39.961
8 Yukio Kagayama (Jpn) Suzuki 1:40.079
9 Andrew Pitt (Aus) Yamaha 1:40.090
10 Fonsi Nieto (Spa) Kawasaki 1:40.270
11 Chris Walker (Gbr) Kawasaki 1:40.307
12 Sebastien Gimbert (Fra) Yamaha 1:40.613
13 Alex Barros (Bra) Honda 1:41.113
14 Shinichi Nakatomi (Jpn) Yamaha 1:41.412
15 Regis Laconi (Fra) Kawasaki 1:41.475
16 Michel Fabrizio (Ita) Honda 1:41.975
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 