Team Suzuki Alstare rider Michel Fabrizio missed out on a second row grid position by a tenth of a second in World Superbike Superpole today at Phillip Island.

It was fellow countryman Marco Melandri (Yamaha) who just pushed Fabrizio out of Superpole 2 and on to row three of the grid, but Fabrizio is happy with all the work that he and the team had done today and is looking forward to tomorrow's races, confident of good results.

Carlos Checa (Ducati) took Superpole today, with a lap of 1:30.882, almost a second quicker than the lap record set by Troy Corser in 2007. Second quickest is Max Biaggi (Aprilia), with Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati) third and Leon Haslam (BMW) fourth.

Michel Fabrizio - 9th, 1:32.153:

"It would've been good to get into final Superpole and onto the second row of the grid at least, but I missed out by a very small margin. I am pretty happy with what we have achieved and all the hard work we have done. For my first race weekend with the team, I think we have managed a lot better than a lot of people expected. We tried many things today and got through all the work really well, ending with a good set-up on the bike.

"The team did really well to build me a new bike after my crash late yesterday afternoon and I would like to say thank you to them. Hopefully, I will be able to repay them tomorrow with some good results. I have two good bikes and because they are the same, I am happy to ride either. Although, I am on the third row of the grid, it will be OK as long as I get good starts. The first corner tightens up in the middle quite a bit and I don't want to get held up there in the pack. If that happens, I will have to push a lot harder and that wears the tyres out more.

"I think we have decided what tyres to use in the races tomorrow and we'll be going for a hardish front because it will last better. The soft front is good, but it moves around a bit too much. This track is quite bumpy, so you have to have the bike set up well to absorb the bumps as best you can.

"It's difficult to predict what will happen tomorrow, but I am feeling fit, strong and more than ready to race. I would like to start the season strongly and a pair of good results will be what I am chasing tomorrow."

Final Qualifying & Superpole:

1 Carlos Checa (ESP-Ducati) 1:30.882,
2 Max Biaggi (ITA-Aprilia) 1:30.895,
3 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA-Ducati) 1:31.293,
4 Leon Haslam (GBR-BMW) 1:31.429,
5 Eugene Laverty (GBR-Yamaha) 1:31.858,
6 Jakub Smrz (CZE-Ducati) 1:31.980.
9 Michel Fabrizio (ITA-Suzuki Alstare) 1:32.153.