The Ducati Xerox star was 0.211secs quicker than fellow Australian
Troy Corser and four-tenths ahead of the Japanese duo of
Yukio Kagayama and
Noriyuki Haga.
"It's a pretty good start to the weekend" said Bayliss. "I'm feeling quite comfortable on the bike and basically we've just been putting some laps on the tyres to see how it looks. We've more or less done race distance at the moment and everything's looking fine. I was quite consistent but we want to try and improve a little bit tomorrow and see how it goes and we're hoping for some good weather of course. Compared to last year I think the track is a bit bumpier and it's actually slightly slower because at the first corner the guys here have stuck down 'witches hats' with tar so you don't cut the corner like we used to. This morning we used the same front and rear for the whole session and this afternoon we did exactly the same right until the end when we just put another fresh race tyre in to set the quickest time."
"It felt good to be back on a bike after the long break and it didn't take me long to get back into the swing of things at all," added Corser, still seeking his first R1 victory. "During the break, I have been doing quite a bit of motocross and because of that I didn't feel at all tired at the end of today's two sessions - in fact, I felt pretty good! The bike feels more or less similar to
Brands Hatch and the only real difference is the shape of the brake lever. It has been designed for better leverage and I am still getting used to it. I have to use different pressure, but the more I use it, the more confident I get. I have always done well here at Lausitz and results show that the Yamaha has never struggled here either, so I think I can get some good results this weekend. First up though, is getting a good grid position because if you don't, you will lose time in the first chicane and then it's easy to lose touch with the leaders. However, I don't intend being in that position."
Second qualifying and Superpole takes place on Saturday.
