Team Alstare Suzuki's Max Neukirchner is on pole for tomorrow's third-round World Superbike Championship round at Valencia in Spain - and team mate Yukio Kagayama will start from second place. The German rider set a blistering time of 1'33.805 on his GSX-R1000 in the single lap dash with Kagayama a fraction behind on 1'33.928.

Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) faced stiff competition in this afternoon's Superpole in Valencia but succeeded in snatching a place on the front row of the grid for tomorrow races. Bayliss will start from third place. Ruben Xaus succeed to fix the problems which influenced his practice performance and scored the 4th best time. His target is to repeat the last year result when he won one race just here on his home-track.

Max Neukirchner - Alstare Suzuki
I am really happy because my Superpole lap was a great lap, but I feel I have been fast all weekend and I was hoping for a front row grid position. This afternoon's free practice was hotter then the morning and the grip level went down, but fortunately it cooled off a little for Superpole and I was able to really go for it. We didn't make any big changes to the bike from yesterday because the bike was working so well. For that I'd like to give a big thank you to my whole team.

Yukio Kagayama - Alstare Suzuki
I knew I had to do something good to beat Troy Bayliss in Superpole and I was able to put in a good, fast lap and beat his time. We've done a lot of good work these two days and the hard work has paid off this afternoon. My body is not 100% but, as I said before, that is a good thing because I am riding smoothly and not taking any risks by pushing too hard.

Fonsi Nieto - Alstare Suzuki
Just like yesterday, I had problems with grip - both front and rear - and so I couldn't use the throttle as I wanted to. The rear was spinning quite a bit and I had no confidence about what the bike was going to do today. We did a long run and my laps were consistent, so that is a positive sign. We'll change the bike back to how it was this morning and hopefully it will feel better and more comfortable to ride.

Troy Bayliss - Xerox Ducati
I have to say it was very competitive out there today with the first ten riders all within a second of each other. I was pretty satisfied with my Superpole lap but it has been a bit of a struggle over the last two days. We have had a few little problems which we've had to try and resolve by trying different things and we'll continue to work before tomorrow's races in order to hopefully be a bit more consistent in competition. There are a lot of strong riders starting from the front couple of rows tomorrow so it will be difficult but I'd say there's a very good race in store for the crowd.

Michel Fabrizio - Xerox Ducati
Overall I'm happy with my performance but I could have done better in Superpole. It was simply very competitive and I unfortunately lost a few tenths at certain points of the track. My team has worked really hard during all the sessions so far and this morning we continues to work on the set-up of the bike. We'll see how we go tomorrow in warm-up before establishing whether to make any more modifications but I'd say we're more or less ready for the races.

Ruben Xaus - Sterilgrada Ducati
Today we have fixed the problems which influenced our work yesterday and I could lap as during the testing. I will start from the first line and I will aim to repeat the last year result although it will be very hard this time. During the first part of the race nobody will move away from the rest of the field. Tomorrow is expected to be hot, therefore who better manages the tyre will have the more opportunities to make a difference in the last 10 laps.

Max Biaggi - Sterilgrada Ducati
I still have troubles when the motorbike is fullfilled of fuel. I don't want to set any goal for tomorrow. The most of the brakings are on the left side and the harm hurts. Anyway the race is long and you never know...

Troy Corser - Yamaha Italia
We are just having to work harder because we were not here for the official tests like most other people. I'm not hurt after falling but I had to use my other bike for Superpole, not my number one machine. We haven't chosen a tyre for the races yet so we'll do that tomorrow.

Noriyuki Haga - Yamaha Italia
Superpole was an improvement after qualifying, so that was good. We have found it hard to get a rear suspension set-up that stops the chattering we have right now, so we will be working on that in warm-up tomorrow. When we get the suspension setting OK we will then be able to decide which tyre will work best for the races. The engine has been strong, the engine braking system is very good, but we cannot make the most of the whole package yet.

Makoto Tamada - Kawasaki PSG-1
The biggest satisfaction we can take from today was the battle in Superpole. I'm happy about the progressive improvement that I made together with the team. We worked very well and achieved a balanced machine. I'm sure that the hard work and the continuous support we have from Kawasaki will soon bring us our rewards. I know this circuit and a good start can make the difference, so realize I have to get off the line well and gain some early positions.

Regis Laconi - Kawasaki PSG-1
I cannot say that I'm that happy even though I improved my time a bit. Today, track conditions were different from yesterday and the bike started to chatter again. We have to adapt the bike to make me able to push the way I really want. Right now I cannot do it because as soon as I try to make up a few tenths the bike starts to chatter. Tomorrow we'll try different solutions during warm-up in order to improve our race times.

Superpole Times - Valencia

 1. Neukirchner Suz GSX-R1000  1'33.805
 2. Kagayama    Suz GSX-R1000  1'33.928
 3. Bayliss     Duc 1098 F08   1'33.976
 4. Xaus        Duc 1098 RS08  1'34.332
 5. Lanzi       Duc 1098 RS08  1'34.370
 6. Kiyonari    Hon CBR1000RR  1'34.370
 7. Checa       Hon CBR1000RR  1'34.492
 8. Corser      Yam YZF-R1     1'34.613
 9. Biaggi      Duc 1098 RS08  1'34.658
10. Haga        Yam YZF-R1     1'34.770
11. Fabrizio    Duc 1098 F08   1'34.799
12. Tamada      Kaw ZX-10R     1'34.930
13. Nieto       Suz GSX-R1000  1'34.959
14. Checa       Yam YZF-R1     1'35.089
15. Laconi      Kaw ZX-10R     1'35.232
16. Smrz        Duc 1098 RS08  1'35.980