Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) was only one place away from taking the Superpole win at his home track of Phillip Island, after qualifying second quickest in the regular official timed sessions and Superpole itself. On qualifying tyres he was half a second a second faster in Superpole than he had been on race tyres, posting a lap of 1'32.011. He did not get the chance to practice on a qualifying tyre, making his ultimate performance in Superpole all the more impressive.

Corser's battered and bruised team-mate Noriyuki Haga jumped up from 11th to 7th after a gritty Superpole ride, despite not finding the levels of rear traction he expected around the 4.445km circuit in Victoria. He had set second time on a qualifying tyre earlier in the afternoon session, but could not find the same level of drive in Superpole.

In his first Superpole ride Davide Checa (Yamaha GMT94) finished 15th, overcoming a moment of drama as he ran off track at the first corner, losing valuable time. He qualified for Superpole ahead of several riders from official teams, thanks to recent changes in the way the GMT94 team approaches the business of finding a good set-up. It was the first Superpole qualification for the team since moving into World Superbike. Checa's team-mate Sebastien Gimbert matched his first day qualifying performance by going 20th fastest, and he now starts on row five, one row behind Checa.

Shinichi Nakatomi found the Phillip Island track a difficult challenge in qualifying, ending up 22nd fastest with a 1'33.833 lap time.

Troy Corser (2nd - 1'32.011 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"Today the bike was working well, but we had a few problems in that last free practice trying to get the bike balanced. Unfortunately we were unable to use the qualifying tyre before Superpole so basically I was doing a fast lap for the first time using the qualifying tyre. We can't complain too much however, because being on the front row is ideal for tomorrow."

Noriyuki Haga (7th - 1'32.728 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"At the end of the untimed afternoon session, I tried a qualifier for one lap and it worked well. I made a 1'32.3. In Superpole it felt like a different tyre. The left side was not working, because when I opened the gas I had a slide and had to take it easy from then on. That's why I am on the second row. It is disappointing because I felt good for Superpole. We still have a problems dealing with the bumps on the asphalt at this track, but it was better today than yesterday. Tomorrow morning we try another solution and then we will be ready to race."

Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team, Team Manager
"Troy made a good Superpole lap to start from the first row of the grid, but we are more interested in our final performance in the races tomorrow. We tried a new solution for the set-up with Troy today. He thinks it will work in the races and the technicians agree that it should be a good direction to allow both riders to be competitive in the races. In morning warm-up Troy will try two different set-ups to see which one to choose. For race tyres, the choice is already made. Noriyuki's physical condition seems good, he says he is fine, and we have no concerns about him in two races tomorrow. He's just angry that he didn't get onto the front row."

David Checa (15th - 1'34.166 - Yamaha GMT94)
"I was not in Superpole at Qatar but one round later we made it. I did not have so much time to prepare on a qualifying tyre and there is a bit of movement from it compared to the race tyres. I had a scare on the first corner of my Superpole lap when I ran wide and I lost about six tenths of a second right there. I just gave it full throttle a bit too fast. After that I got my rhythm back, but my lap time was lost. We were happy to have got into Superpole and it was a good learning experience. I wanted to be on the third row because a rider always wants more!"

Martial Garcia - Team Manager Team YZF Yamaha
"We could not find the perfect set up for the chassis this weekend because of the bumps on the track. The times are very close between the riders, however, so we have reasonable hopes for raceday."