Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Edwards sets fastest time in Saturday qualifying

By Glenn LeSanto

Colin Edwards was the fastest rider around the Phillip Island circuit during Saturday morning’s final World Superbike qualifying session. However, the Texan was unable to match Troy Bayliss’s time from the Friday session, so Bayliss remains at the top of the timesheet as the riders head for Superpole later today.

In bright sunshine, a welcome contrast to last year’s monsoon conditions, Edwards whittled away almost three tenths from his Friday time. Bayliss was unable to better his own time of 1:32.656 set Friday and circulated at 1:33.240 during the session.

Ruben Xaus also improved on his Friday time, going up from 1:33.626 to 1:33.032, making him third-fastest overall. Ben Bostrom also went faster today, moving into fourth-fastest with a time of 1:33.268. Noriyuki Haga slipped to sixth-fastest despite improving his time.

Most teams were admitting they were struggling to find a race tire that could run the full race distance

World Superbike – final qualifying – Saturday morning

1 Troy Bayliss Australia Ducati 1:32.656

2 Colin Edwards USA Castrol Honda 1:32.738

3 Ruben Xaus Spain Ducati 1:33.032

4 Ben Bostrom USA Ducati 1:33.268

5 Pier-Francesco Chili Italy Ducati 1:33.291

6 Noriyuki Haga Japan Aprilia 1:33.369

7 Lucio Pedercini Italy Ducati 1:33.677

8 Gregorio Lavilla Spain Suzuki 1:33.834

9 Steve Martin Australia Ducati 1:33.982

10 Hitoyasu Izutsu Japan Kawasaki 1:33.998