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Superbike hero Aaron Slight is right back in the thick of world championship action, fourth so far in qualifying for this weekend\'s seventh round at Misano in Italy.
After a frantic opening session on Friday afternoon, the comeback king is just 0.3 of a second off the fastest time set by Australian qualifying specialist Troy Corser.
In his fourth event since brain surgery, expat Kiwi Slight has the Castrol Honda VTR right on the pace with a second qualifying session to come Saturday morning Italian time.
\"I\'ll take that,\" said the Masterton-born Slight. \"We know the areas of the bike we can improve for tomorrow.\"
\"I need a minor change to the gearbox ratios but other than that everything feels good.\"
\"Onto the back straight the VTR has some awesome traction. The Michelin rear we used really dug in and I was happy with the grip through those left-handers.\"
Experts were not surprised to see the 34-year-old back to his best at the San Marino event where he won both legs of the world championship round two years ago. He is pressing for his first rostrum finish since his surgery in February.
But his Castrol Honda teammate, championship leader Colin Edwards ended the day disappointed in seventh place.
\"I just had a problem with the front end of the machine pushing out on me,\" said the 26-year-old Texan. \"We tried to make some changes but during a session it\'s a bit hectic so we\'ll get the problem sorted this evening.\"
\"The set-up we had today normally turns better so it may be a case of finding the right compound front tyre to suit the set-up I prefer.\"
Saturday\'s final qualifier at the 4.06km track 250km north of Rome is followed by the flying lap superpole ride to determine grid positions, with two legs of the race held Sunday night New Zealand time live on Sky TV.
World Superbike qualifying times:
1 Troy Corser, Australia (Aprilia) 1m 35.539s,
2 Pier-Francesco Chili, Italy (Suzuki) 1m 35.656s,
3 Troy Bayliss, Australia (Ducati) 1m 35.827s,
4 Aaron Slight, New Zealand (Castrol Honda) 1m 35.846s,
5 Juan Borja, Spain (Ducati) 1m 35.851s,
6 Vittoriano Guareschi, Italy (Yamaha) 1m 36.454s,
7 Colin Edwards, USA (Castrol Honda) 1m 36.464s,
8 Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan (Suzuki) 1m 36.605s,
9 Noriyuki Haga, Japan (Yamaha) 1m 36.705s,
10 Ben Bostrom, USA (Ducati) 1m 36.814s.
