Third and fifth for HM Plant pair first out.

Neil Hodgson and James Toseland started the last round of the 2002 Superbike World Championship at Imola as they mean to go on. The HM Plant Ducatis ended the first official qualifying session by finishing in third (Hodgson) and fifth (Toseland) positions respectively, with the former a fraction outside Troy Corser's existing lap record (1:49.398).

While media attention will focus on the battle between Troy Bayliss and Colin Edwards for the title, Hodgson and Toseland will be gearing up for their own respective showdowns to confirm their third and seventh positions in the championship overall. With this in mind, both riders were happy with their qualifying performances in preparation for tomorrow afternoon's one-lap Superpole qualifying session and Sunday's two races.

Hodgson was second behind Edwards in this morning's free practice, but his progress was halted when he collided with Ruben Xaus in the afternoon session. "I was feeling really good out there until Xaus came under me at the Rivazza and knocked me off," said the 28-year-old who is competing in his last race for the team after four years with GSE Racing.

"I had to complete the remainder of the session on my number two machine, but I was reasonably happy with my time under the circumstances. With the pace that Edwards is setting already, I know that I have to get down to the 1:48 barrier to make more progress tomorrow."

Toseland was elated with one of his best qualifying performances of the year: "My objective is to finish ahead of Chili and Walker in the battle for seventh overall and so I am delighted to be ahead of them on time - even at this early stage of the weekend. I'm feeling positive after making it on to the podium at Assen and hope that I can carry that form through the rest of the weekend."