09-07-02  ASSEN - QUALIFYING & SUPERPOLE Ducati Corse Press Front row starts at Assen for Xaus and Bayliss (Ducati Infostrada) as Edwards (Honda) takes Superpole – Bostrom (Ducati L&M) ninth. Ducati Infostrada riders Ruben Xaus and Troy Bayliss will start tomorrow’s penultimate round of the World Superbike Championship from the front row of the grid after a spectacular afternoon at the Assen TT Circuit in the Netherlands. Championship leader Bayliss moved to the top of the timesheets with his Superpole lap before the final two riders Colin Edwards (Honda) and Xaus had their turns. The Texan was on course for pole before cutting through the final chicane, but his time was allowed to stand, while Xaus then shaved another tenth off Troy’s time to take second. In the earlier free practice session, Xaus had caused a sensation when he lapped the revised Assen circuit in an extraordinary time of 2’01.680, which was 11/100ths of a second quicker than Valentino Rossi’s pole time on a four-stroke Honda for this year’s MotoGP race. Ben Bostrom (Ducati L&M) was unable to improve on his overnight qualifying time in the morning and then in Superpole slipped down to ninth. “I’m having a bit of difficulty on the back section, on the second part of the track the other guys are going much quicker than me,” declared Ben. “I’m still undecided on which bike set-up to pick for tomorrow, but my aim is to beat my best finish here by at least five positions. For some reason me and this track don’t get along and that’s strange because it’s such a cool facility. The track would appear to suit my style but I end up fighting it. If I could finish top six then you’ll find a big smile on my face this time tomorrow.” SUPERPOLE TIMES in association with Breil, the official timekeeper of Ducati Corse. BACK    03/10/02 VALENCIA Spain 03/24/02 PHILLIP ISLAND Australia 04/07/02 KYALAMI South Africa 04/21/02 SUGO Japan 05/12/02 MONZA Italy 05/26/02 SILVERSTONE Great Britain 06/09/02 LAUSITZRING Germany 06/23/02 MISANO San Marino 07/14/02 LAGUNA SECA United States 07/28/02 BRANDS HATCH Great Britain 09/01/02 OSCHERS-LEBEN Germany 09/08/02 ASSEN Netherlands 09/29/02 IMOLA Italy