Corser bemoans 'strange' Superpole after tactical error

Troy Corser has described his first experience of the new Superpole format as 'strange' after recording his lowest ever grid position in World Superbikes for the opening round of the season at Phillip Island.

The one-lap specialist, often referred to as Mr Superpole, was expected to be a front runner of new knockout system after performing well during a simulation in Portugal last month.

However, the local favourite, a multiple race winner around the Phillip Island circuit, would be lulled into gambling on the wrong tyres during Q1 after setting the fifth best time in provisional qualifying.

Believing his earlier form meant he didn't need to use qualifying rubber just to make Q2, it was an error that Corser couldn't recover from, his best lap putting him on the bubble as the seconds ticked down, before a good effort from Regis Laconi demoted him into the drop zone.

Leaving him on the fifth row of the grid for his home round, Corser is frustrated to be languishing further down the field than ever before, but is determined to chalk this one up to experience.

"This new Superpole system is a bit strange because the fastest rider could easily not end up on the front row! I believe that the fastest rider should be in pole position and then the rest should follow with reference to their lap times.

"Having only two tyres for three sessions is a bit of a gamble, because you don't know whether or not to use one in the first session or what. Today we took a gamble and it didn't work, so we will carefully have to think about what to do the next time.

"This is something we all have to learn and is just another part of this huge learning process for our team. It's a big shame, because I could've probably qualified on the first two rows of the grid and that would have been a fantastic achievement for the team.

"It's not going to be easy starting from the fifth row of the grid. This will be my worst grid position in my World Superbike history, but sometimes strange things happen at racetracks, so we will just have to see how it all pans out tomorrow."