Ben Spies has joked he may buy Jonathan Rea dinner in a bid to persuade him to be his 'temporary team-mate' and aid his World Superbike title offensive at Magny-Cours.

On the weekend it was confirmed he will be graduating to MotoGP with Tech 3 Yamaha next season, Spies was on outstanding form during Superpole around the French circuit to emerge four tenths faster than his closest competitor and in turn equal the record number of pole positions achieved in a single season.

The only man to dip below 1min 38secs for a lap time some six tenths faster than the original lap record, Spies was delighted with his upturn in pace following a fairly low profile weekend up to that point.

"It was a good lap, four-tenths ahead of the other guys, but we've been mainly working more on race tyres and fuel loads all weekend and trying to make the bike come good on Sunday and this was the first time we've put in a really fast one.”

With Noriyuki Haga directly behind in fifth position, Spies concedes he will be tackling a two-pronged Ducati Xerox offensive unless Rea can get in the mix and take points from his rival.

“It's going to be a good race, the same four guys as last time, and Biaggi's very close, but I'm confident with the bike, unlike last week at Imola. It's good Johnny's up there again. I might buy him some dinner tonight to get him to help me out!"