Troy Bayliss insists his pole position for the first round of the World Superbike Championship proves he is a stronger rider than ever after his difficult spell in MotoGP. The Australian spent three years in the elite class of motorcycling but was squeezed out last year and returned to Superbike action at Losail.
Back on a works Ducati, he smashed the lap record in Qatar to claim pole for the first two races of the campaign. His lap of one minute 59.696 seconds was the only effort under two minutes and eased him to pole by nearly half a second from team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi.
"It feels great to be back in Superbikes and it's always nice to have pole position," said Bayliss. "I did three years in MotoGP and it did me a lot of good so now I've come back as a stronger all-round rider. I actually expected to do a little better in superpole but I did enough to get pole and I'm happy with that."
Yamaha's Andrew Pitt claimed third while Britain's former world champion James Toseland completes the front row in fourth. The Yorkshireman admits he took his time getting used to his new Winston Honda bike but feels he is making progress.
"That was a good result for me with a new team, so I'm happy," he said. "It took a little bit of time to get up to speed this weekend, what with the rain yesterday and the settings being very different from the ones we had for the most recent test in Valencia. I don't fully understand the bike yet, so it took time to get it right, but we are getting there now."
Reigning champion Troy Corser could only manage fifth on his Alstare Suzuki while former MotoGP ace Alex Barros' World Superbike debut will begin from 10th on a Klaffi Honda. Chris Walker starts from 12th on his Kawasaki while Foggy Petronas rider Craig Jones starts from the back.
Jones, from Northwich, fell on his way out of the pits in second qualifying, injuring his knee and preventing him setting a time. He did not officially qualify but race stewards will allow him to start from the rear. Jones said: "The crash was probably down to inexperience on my part. I cannot honestly say I know 100% what happened but I don't mind saying I made a mistake.
"I lost about a square inch of skin and the wound had to be stitched together. I could definitely feel it on track in the afternoon but I will take a painkiller for the races." Sebastien Charpentier claimed pole position in the World Supersport Championship, pipping Winston Honda team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu to top spot. Huddersfield's Tom Tunstall improved today and will start 23rd on his Honda.
Credit: PA Sport
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