The biggest loser during today's Superpole session at Qatar was Winston Ten Kate Honda's
Karl Muggeridge, who had set the second fastest time - behind only
Troy Bayliss - in regular qualifying, only to fall spectacularly during his Superpole lap.
Until his misfortune, Muggeridge had been a candidate for rider of the day after also dipping under the two-minute lap barrier on race tyres in the final free practice session, which took place just before the Superpole contest itself.
But Muggeridge was to fall entering a complex of right hand corners after carrying a little too much corner speed, running out of road on the first corner exit as he tried to score his first career Superpole. In the first sector of the lap Karl was almost half of second ahead.
“It cools down in the afternoon here and during Superpole it had become quite cool," explained the Australian. "We opted to put a slightly harder front tyre in but that was decided a couple of hours before. My last thought when I left the garage was, ‘should have gone for a softer one.'
"I pushed and pushed but I was a little hot into the corner. It was the first of a group of three rights, and it's fourth gear there, so it was a pretty fast crash. I tried to save it but I ran out of track.
"It could have been worse because my fast lap in regular qualifying was second fastest of all and that means I only drop down to start form the second row," confirmed Karl, who will line-up a competitive eighth on the grid.
However, team-mate
James Toseland will start four places ahead after clocking a very impressive fourth fastest time in his very first Superpole session on a Honda.
“That was a good result for me, with a new team, so I'm happy," confirmed the Briton. "It took alit bit of time to get up to speed this weekend, what with the rain yesterday and the settings being very different from the ones we had for the most recent test in Valencia. I don't fully understand the bike yet, so it took time to get it right, but as we can see we are getting there now.
