Toseland targets double to rein in Corser

James Toseland will attempt to score the first double victory of his career at the San Marino round of the world superbike championship at Misano tomorrow.

The 24-year-old Briton won the last race in the series, at Silverstone, and believes that his twin-cylinder Ducati Xerox will be competitive against the four-cylinder Alstare Suzukis.

"Ducati has worked really hard after Suzuki caught us out at the beginning of the season," Toseland said yesterday. "We can go round here as fast as anybody. My next target is my first double win, and I'll be going for it.''

Toseland is the reigning champion, but holds only fifth position in the table, 124 points behind the series leader Troy Corser at the halfway stage. Corser now appears set for an easy cruise to his second superbike title, but Toseland said: "It's not over yet.''

His team-mate Regis Laconi holds fourth place, 110 points behind Corser. But the Frenchman, 29, won the second of the two races at Silverstone and has made three visits to the podium at the Mizano circuit.

"It will be a hard race because it's a very physical track," he said. "But now we are winning so I feel a lot happier."

Corser can feel confident given his record of 11 podium finishes at Misano. "We knew our competitors would get stronger as the season progressed, but we're up to the task," the Australian said. "I know what it takes to win the title, and I am focused on doing my best.''

Corser set the pace yesterday by clocking a fastest-lap time of 1min 35.717sec to claim provisional pole. Next-fastest was Max Neukirchner, who was just 0.119sec outside Corser's benchmark. Third-quickest was Laconi, while Karl Muggeridge was home fourth on his Winston Ten Kate Honda to complete the front row of the provisional grid. Toseland was fifth with his fellow Briton Chris Walker 14th.

In Assen, Valentino Rossi continued his domination of the MotoGP season by taking his fourth pole of the year in yesterday's qualifying session for the Dutch Grand Prix.

The defending champion edged out Sete Gibernau of Spain by 0.321sec.