Neukirchner led home a Suzuki one-two in the superpole

Max Neukirchner claimed his first superpole ahead of Sunday's third round of the World Superbike Championship.

The German set the fastest lap of one minute, 33.805 seconds in Valencia to edge out his Suzuki team-mate Yukio Kagayama by 0.123 seconds.

Championship leader Troy Bayliss was third quickest on his Ducati ahead of Spaniard Ruben Xaus.

"This is my first superpole win and I'm really happy about that," said a delighted Neukirchner.

"We have a good set-up on the bike for race tyres and I have big hopes of doing a couple of good races."

We still have a few little problems to sort out Troy Bayliss

Kagayama is still recovering from the shoulder injury sustained at the opening round in Qatar but is confident he will soon be back to his best.

"Now that my collarbone trouble is over, it's not perfect, but for me it's a better situation because if it was 100% I would probably push too hard," he said.

"It wasn't a clean lap but I am very happy to be second."

Bayliss leads the championship by 17 points after three races but insists he still has a few glitches to iron out if he is to extend it further in Valencia.

"We're pretty happy with the superpole lap but honestly for the race we still have a few little problems to sort out," said the Australian.

"We've been trying a few things and hopefully we can be a bit more consistent."

Results of superpole qualifying in Valencia:

1. Max Neukirchner (Ger) Suzuki 1min 33.805secs
2. Yukio Kagayama (Jpn) Suzuki 1:33.928
3. Troy Bayliss (Aus) Ducati 1:33.976
4. Ruben Xaus (Spa) Ducati 1:34.332
5. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ita) Ducati 1:34.370
6.Ryuichi Kiyonari (Jpn) Honda 1:34.370
7. Carlos Checa (Spa) Honda 1:34.492
8. Troy Corser (Aus) Yamaha 1:34.613
9. Max Biaggi (Ita) Ducati 1:34.658
10. Noriyuki Haga (Jpn) Yamaha 1:34.770
11 Michel Fabrizio (Ita) Ducati 1:34.799
12 Makoto Tamada (Jpn) Kawasaki 1:34.930
13 Fonsi Nieto (Spa) Suzuki 1:34.959
14 David Checa (Spa) Yamaha 1:35.089
15 Regis Laconi (Fra) Kawasaki 1:35.232