His team mate Yukio Kagayama will be just behind on row three, with Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner alongside him. Ducatis dominated the front row of the grid, with Troy Bayliss taking his fourth Superpole of the year. His fellow countryman Troy Corser (Yamaha) is second, with Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) third and Max Biaggi (Ducati) fourth.

Fonsi - 7th, 1:59.360
I am happy because today I found a good rhythm over a lot of laps on race tyres and was still going consistently fast at the end of eighteen laps. I made a little mistake in Superpole in the last sector, but the second row of the grid is OK here. So far the weekend has been going well. I am happy with the bike and I don’t think we’ll make any changes in the warm-up tomorrow morning. Every time we go out, the grip improves and I think there will be even more grip tomorrow. Whatever happens, I am going for the podium in both races.

Max - 9th, 1:59.497
My Superpole lap was bit funny because I didn’t make any mistakes, felt good on the bike but the time was not good! It was strange because I had a feeling like that in the free practice this afternoon when I was on race tyres. For me the grip was better in the morning than the afternoon when I had a bit of a front end chatter. The third row of the grid is not so good, but the first corner is quite far from start so as long as I can get off the line quickly, I have a chance to be in the lead group straightaway. If I can make two good starts, there is no reason why I cannot get on the podium.

Yukio - 10th, 1:59.537
I am not so happy to be on the third row of the grid, but I think that is because my Superpole lap was not so good. I made a little mistake in sector two, lost some time and that was that. I got into a turn a bit too hot, braked a bit too hard and then lost my drive exiting the corner. My biggest problem at the moment is getting the best settings for the electronics. When you have good settings, you can push very hard, but we have not yet found the ideal solution. We will try some changes in the warm-up tomorrow morning and see if we can find the best compromise for this track.

Final qualifying
1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:58.345, 2 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1:58.451, 3 Fabrizio (I-Ducati) 1:58.853, 4 Biaggi (I-Ducati) 1:59.069, 5 Kiyonari (J-Honda) 1:59.318, 6 Canepa (I-Ducati) 1:59.324, 7 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) 1:59.360, 8 Smrz (CZ-Ducati) 1:59.451, 8 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki) 1:59.497, 10 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare) 1:59.537,