Tests pay dividends for rapid Edwards

Colin Edwards moved another step closer to claiming a second World Superbike championship title with a record-breaking performance at Imola yesterday.

The American – who leads Troy Bayliss by just one point in the title race – took provisional pole position with a lap of 1min 48.336sec around the Italian track, more than a second faster than his Australian rival.

Edwards and his Castrol Honda team enjoyed a private test at Imola last week and that clearly paid dividends as the championship leader immediately set the pace.

His time shattered the lap record at the Italian circuit by more than a second and put him just less than a second clear in pole from Bayliss' Ducati Infostrada team-mate Ruben Xaus.

Britain's Neil Hodgson holds a provisional front-row slot after taking his HM Plant Ducati to third, just ahead of Bayliss.

Although Edwards refused to be complacent going into today's final qualifying and superpole sessions, he admitted that he is expecting to go even faster.

"We tested here last week so I knew we'd be quick straight out of the box today," he said yesterday. "But we've got tomorrow's action to go and I'd like to think we could try a qualifying tyre and get a chunk of time off my best lap today.

"We had a couple of tyres to try and a few new suspension settings and in general we're happy with the progress today. At the very end of the session I tried a brand new superpole tyre but ran out of time and didn't really get the final lap I was looking for.

"I am pretty relaxed, no need to be anything else. I'm feeling more tension from watching the Ryder Cup golf on TV today."