Ducati privateer Carlos Checa has set the fastest time in qualifying prior to this afternoon’s final Superpole session for tomorrow’s opening round of the Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island, with Chris Vermeulen the leading Australian in eighth.

The top 20 riders from qualifying will now contest the three-stage Superpole shootout from 3.00pm to 3.50pm to determine final grid positions for tomorrow’s two 22-lap races.

The Australians all improved on their times this morning, with Chris Vermeulen the best contender on the Kawasaki sitting eighth with a time almost a full second better than yesterday, Troy Corser jumped to 13th fastest on his BMW with a 0.9 second improvement, while Andrew Pitt (BMW) and Josh Brookes (Honda) both improved this morning on Friday’s effort.

Vermuelen, Corser and Pitt have all made the cut for this afternoon’s Superpole, while Josh Brookes will sit it out and will start from 21st in tomorrow’s pair of 22-lap races.

Checa failed to improve on his time from yesterday’s opening qualifying session, but it was still good enough to hold onto top spot, ahead of Ducati’s Michel Fabrizio, Suzuki’s Leon Haslam and Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow.

Other top guns to take part in Superpole will include Ducati Xerox Noriyuki Haga, Italian star Max Biaggi and dual world champion James Toseland, who is returning to world superbike after two years in MotoGP.

Haslam fell at high-speed in this morning’s 45-minute session, as did Corser’s teammate Roland Resch.

Resch’s violent crash on the entry to Siberia brought out the red flag while debris was cleared from the circuit.

Stay tuned for the Superpole and national reports this afternoon.

Click here for detailed results